LIBRARY  OF  THE  THEOLOGICAL  SEMINARY 

PRINCETON,  N.  J. 

Presented  by 

ohe  0\u^,V\nor. 

BR  125  .J55  1921  | 

Johnston,  Joseph  S.         ' 
Christ  victorious  over  all 


CHRIST  VICTORIOUS 
OVER  ALL 


"FIRST-BORN  OF  ALL  CREATION 

BEGINNING  OF  THE  CREATION  OF  GOD 

FIRST-BORN  FROM  THE  DEAD 

HEAD  OVER  THE  UNIVERSE 

HEAD  OF  THAT  CHURCH,  WHICH  IS  HIS  BODY 

PRIEST— KING  OF  ISRAEL 

SAVIOR  OF  THE  WORLD 

KING  AND  GOD  OF  THE  EONS 

TO  HIM  THE  GLORY 

IN  THE  CHURCH  IN  CHRIST  JESUS 

IN  ALL  THE  GENERATIONS 

OF  THE  EON 

OF   THE    EONS  ! 

AMEN" 


'-'-And  they  shall  all  be   taught  of  God'' 
« — they  shall  all  kfiotv  Me^saith  the  Lord''' 


By  JOSEPH  S.  JOHNSTON 


640  East  43d  Street,   Chicago,   111. 


Copyright   1921 
By  Joseph  S.  Johnston 


PREFACE 

The  purpose,  plan,  and  accomplishment  of  the  work  that  the 
Creative  Word  was  sent  forth  to  do,  are  to  be  found  in  the  Written 
Word.  Certain  aspects  are  taken  up  in  this  book,  as  will  readily  be 
seen  by  the  chapter  headings,  mainly  as  they  have  a  bearing  on  escha- 
tology.  "All  things  are  out  of  God" — There  was  a  beginning;  "I 
am  the  Beginning, — I  Jesus."  There  was  a  program  according  to 
which  the  knowledge  of  God  was  Divinely  taught  in  orderly  progres- 
sion from  Alpha  to  Omega.  During  the  course  of  its  five  definite  eons 
all  creatures  live,  and  move,  and  have  their  being,  in  the  creating, 
sustaining  Living  Word. — "All  things  are  through  God."  The  Son 
of  God  is  to  carry  on  this  work  in  the  path  of  humiliation,  the 
essential  glory  of  His  Godhood  being  veiled  until  He  delivers  a  per- 
fected Universe  to  The  Father,  when  the  last  veil  shall  be  removed, 
and  the  one  only  God  is  all  in  all  in  Fatherhood ;  for  "All  things  are 
unto  God."  ( See  Eph.  3  :  1 1 ,  the  purpose  of  the  eons ;  Isa.  55  :  11,  My 
Word  that  goeth  forth ;  Rom.  11:36,  for  out  of  Him, and  through  Him, 
and  unto  Him  are  all  things,  ta  panta,  the  all;  Rev.  22:13,  I  am  the 
Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  First  and  the  Last,  the  Beginning  and  the 
End."  Heb.  11:3,  "The  eons  were  planned  by  the  continuous  inten- 
tion of  God,"  but  this  is  a  matter  to  be  accepted  by  jaith  in  the  Divine 
Statement.  Rev.  1:1,  The  unveiling;  I  Cor.  15:  22,  delivers  up  the 
kingdom.)  He  is  a  God  of  order,  of  cosmos  not  chaos,  and  in  a 
finished  Universe  there  will  be  a  place  for  everything  and  every- 
thing will  be  in  its  place.  Christ  will  be  Victorious.  God  will  be 
satisfied,  and  the  Universe  will  be  blessed  and  harmonious  under  the 
Headship  of  Christ  Jesus,  the  First-born  from  the  dead. 

A  spiritual  perception  of  the  exact  teaching  of  the  Bible  on 
three  points  will  decide  for  us  the  true  view  of  the  last  things;  a 
consistent  doctrine  of  the  eons,  a  doctrine  of  sin  and  its  penalty,  and 
a  perception  of  the  sphere  and  function  of  man's  free  will.  A  chapter 
is  given  to  each  of  these.  It  is  desirable  also  that  every  Scripture 
passage  bearing  on  the  subject  should  be  seen  to  be  in  the  harmony 
that  its  Divine  inspiration  involves.  This  can  be  done,  if  rightly 
divided,  distinguishing  things  that  differ.  (See  Chapters  HI  and 
IV.)  No  doctrine  should  be  considered  apart  from  its  vital  con- 
nection with  Christ  Jesus,  the  Divine  Head  over  all  things,  both  in 


4  PREFACE 

the  old  and  the  new  creation.  This  is  recognized  in  Chapter  I. 
"Take  heed  how  ye  hear."  "He  that  hath  eyes  to  see,  let  him  see." 
The  writer  claims  no  authority,  and  disclaims  all  responsibility  except 
to  his  own  master,  Christ  Jesus,  our  Lord  and  Savior. 

If  Scripture  teaching  on  eschatology  is  worthy  of  any  belief,  what- 
ever that  teaching  may  be,  it  is  worth  the  pains  of  first-hand  Berean 
search.  To  profess  the  truth  of  God  for  no  other  reason  or  on  no 
other  ground  than  man's  say  so,  is  an  unworthy  attitude.  If  God,  in 
Christ  and  the  Bible,  condescends  to  teach,  we  can  have  no  excuse 
for  continued  ignorance  and  error. 

Bishop  Ewing  says:  "Unless  'restitution  of  all  things'  be  held 
as  a  matter  of  faith  and  not  as  a  speculative  dogma,  it  is  practically 
valueless.  With  me  this  final  victory  is  not  a  matter  of  speculation 
at  all,  but  positive  faith ;  and  to  disbelieve  it  would  be  for  me  to  cease 
altogether  either  to  trust  or  worship  God." 

The  teaching  of  endless  torment  in  Hell  as  the  penalty  for  sin  is 
to  be  condemned  for  many  reasons: 

1.  The  argument  and  its  conclusion  originated  in  the  human 
reasoning  and  is  within  the  sphere  of  law. 

2.  Scripture  citations  are  from  translations  that  pervert  the  origi- 
nal language. 

3.  It  ignores  the  fulness  of  the  work  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  its 
complete  success. 

4.  It  denies  the  finished  work  of  the  cross. 

5.  It  is  an  addition  to  the  Scripture  penalty  for  sin,  which  is  death 
only. 

6.  In  making  justice,  unsatisfied  at  the  cross,  the  ruling  element  in 
human  destiny,  it  denies  that  "grace  reigns"  through  righteousness. 

7.  It  confirms  contradictions  in  the  translation  of  the  Bible. 

8.  As  part  of  the  dominant  creed  it  disfellowships  a  believer  of 
Colossians  i :  20  and  fosters  division. 

9.  It  hides  the  gospel  from  the  unlearned. 

10.  It  is  responsible  for  the  pagan  doctrine  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul  inherent  in  man,  apart  from  Christ. 

11.  It  imposes  dogmatic  human  notions  of  its  own  upon  the  re- 
lation of  Christ  Jesus  to  humanity  after  death. 

12.  Under  many  creeds  it  demands  confession  by  those  who  have 
no  positive  belief  in  it,  through  a  supposed  loyalty  to  God's  Word. 

13.  It  ascribes  victory  to  man's  will  in  conflict  with  God's,  in 


PREFACE  5 

face  of  the  fact  that  many  wills  have  changed  to  an  experience  of  sal- 
vation, not  by  man's  initiative,  but  by  influences  brought  to  bear  upon 
his  soul,  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  being  declared  a  sample. 

14.  It  harms  the  soul  of  every  believer  of  the  Bible  who  tries  to 
preach  it. 

15.  It  adds  no  spiritual  joy  to  those  who  hold  it,  as  all  truth 
should. 

16.  Its  prevalence  is  due  to  the  natural  man's  pride  and  prejudice, 
and  to  the  ecclesiastic's  love  of  power,  and  to  the  submission  of  a  lazy, 
irresponsible  laity  to  those  who  seat  themselves  in  the  place  of  carnal 
clerical  authority. 

With  such  an  indictment  even  possibly  true,  is  it  not  incumbent 
on  every  one  who  publicly  teaches  on  this  topic  to  be  sure  that  he  has 
the  one  only  Biblical  position;  that  he  is  not  using  false  renderings 
of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek,  nor  relying  on  a  part  of  the  Scripture 
only,  nor  disregarding  dispensational  landmarks? 

The  published  utterances  of  men  whom  Christendom  honors  are 
used  in  this  book,  it  is  hoped  without  detriment  to  their  usefulness 
apart  from  these  special  quotations ;  which  are  taken  because  at  hand, 
and  as  presumably  fairly  representative  of  the  various  positions  there- 
in set  forth,  and  which  are  tested  according  to  the  Bible,  These 
teachings  may  be  regarded  as  Gamaliel  advised:  "If  this  counsel 
or  this  work  be  of  men,  it  will  be  overthrown:  but  if  it  is  of  God, 
ye  will  not  be  able  to  overthrow  them."  (Acts  5:  38.)  And  Paul 
says:  "For  we  can  do  nothing  against  the  truth  but  for  the  truth." 
(II  Cor.  13:8.) 


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\ 

CHAPTER  I 

HE  HUMBLED  HIMSELF, 

— wherefore  also  God  highly  exalted  Him, 
and  gave  unto  Him  the  name  which  is  above 
everj'  other  name;  that  in  the  name  of 

SAVIOR 

every  knee  should  bow.     (Phil,  2:8.) 

He  humbled  himself.  But  man  has  misunderstood  this  attitude. 
In  creature  ignorance,  pride  and  self-importance.  He  has  been  ma- 
ligned, and  despised.  "Unadorned,  without  honor,  He  was  not  re- 
spected,— nor  sought  or  desired.  Despised  and  neglected  by  men,  a 
man  in  His  sorrows  acquainted  \\nth  grief.  (Isa.  53:  3.)  "Ye  have 
limited  the  Holy  One  of  Israel."  The  way  of  salvation — Christ 
crucified,  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God — is  professed, 
but  its  adequacy  is  denied  by  resort  to  other  means  which  seem  more 
practical.  "The  Lamb, — that  bore  away  the  sin  of  the  world," — 
this  is  made  void  by  the  common  preaching  of  all  Christendom,  that, 
regardless  of  sin  put  away,  the  sinner  must  be  punished.  But  it  is 
said,  "Of  course,  that  is  all  right,  everjbody  believes  that,  what  is 
the  matter  with  it?"  The  matter  is,  that  it  is  a  contradiction.  For 
here  are  the  very  words  that  God  commands  shall  be  proclaimed  on 
that  point,  "everybody"  to  the  contrary  though  they  be.  "To  wit, 
that  God  was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  cosm.os  unto  Himself,  not 
charging  their  sins  to  them."  Did  you  ever  hear  anybody  preach 
this  without  reservations?  "You  have  limited  the  Holy  One  of 
Israel,"  and  have  reduced  the  Gospel  to  a  minimum,  and  then  wonder 
that  //  has  no  power,  and  you  ask  God  to  give  you  some  wonderful 
baptism  that  will  bring  the  world  to — (what?),  and  you  charge  upon 
God  the  responsibility  of  your  carnal  failure.  What  is  this  prayer 
that  is  heard  on  any  and  every  occasion  that  "God  would  pour  out 
his  Spirit,"  and  bring  multitudes  into  a  carnal  church?  The  Holy 
Spirit  will  endorse  the  Divinely  powerful  gospel,  though  proclaimed 
by  a  weak  messenger.  But  men  pray  that  unscriptural  ideas  may  be 
used  to  convert  souls;  that  a  personal  gift  of  power  may  do  a  mighty 
work;  that  God  will  act  contrary  to  His  dispensational  program; 


8  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

and  then  charge  God  with  holding  back  something  that  He  could 
give  just  as  well  as  not.  No,  "The  lord's  hand  is  not  shortened." 
Men  are  slow  to  believe. 

If  you  are  seventy  years  old  you  may  have  heard  ten  thousand 
prayers  (figure  it  up  yourself),  any  one  of  which,  if  granted,  would 
have  converted  the  world  in  a  week.  Estimate  the  many  millions  of 
these  vain  repetitions  for  personal  power,  and  the  rousing  up  of  the 
Savior,  and  the  pouring  of  the  spirit  upon  unscriptural  preaching  and 
practice,  and — act  accordingly; — to  your  own  Master  you  stand  or 
fall.  Did  Christ  put  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself?  and  do 
you  believe  it  and  proclaim  it  ? 

He  became  "obedient  unto  death,"  even  the  death  of  the  cross. 
Here  is  the  end  of  the  Adamic  fall.  This  great  landmark  in  the  rela- 
tions of  God  and  man  indicates  not  only  the  depth  of  human  sin,  it  is 
also  the  place  of  deepest  humiliation  reached  by  the  Son  of  Grod. 
From  this  on  the  glories  of  his  person  are  gradually  unveiled,  until  at 
last  there  shines  out  "the  glory  which  He  had  with  the  Father  before 
the  world  was."  "For  in  Him  dwelleth  all  the  fulness  of  the  God- 
hood  bodily."  (Col.  2:9.)  Resurrection  declared  him  Son  of  God; 
the  coming  eon  unveils  him  in  Messianic  office,  administering  justice; 
righteousness  and  peace  have  kissed  each  other.     (Ps.  85  :  10,  99 :  1-4.) 

A  more  glorious  eon  follows  the  Millennial  reign,  in  which  He  is 
manifested  as  the  Son  of  God,  bringing  a  willing  universe  under  the 
power  of  His  love.  "And  I,  if  I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  the  Universe 
to  Myself.  (John  12:  32,  ta  panta.  the  all.)  He  made  it;  He  says, 
It  is  mine.  He  will  not  forsake  the  work  of  His  own  hands.  (Job 
12:  10,  14:  15;  Ps.  138:8,  95:3-6.)  The  Living  Word  sent  forth 
finishes  His  work;  the  eonian  veil  of  humiliation  is  taken  away;  then, 
the  epiphany  of  His  Divine  glory.  Under  His  Headship  there  is  a 
reconciled  Universe.  (Eph.  1:22,  ta  panta,  the  all);  a  perfected 
cosmos;  a  place  for  everything,  and  everything  in  its  place,  in  which 
condition  of  order  and  beauty,  every  intelligent  creature  worships 
Him  in  the  name  that  is  exalted  above  King,  above  Priest,  above 
Judge,  above  Lord,  above  any  man-made  counterfeit  title,  such  as 
"Great  moral  Governor  of  the  Universe."  This  last,  intended  to 
magnify  Him,  does  but  degrade  Him  from  Minister  of  the  Divine 
Gospel  to  an  administrator  of  a  law.  The  universe  bows  the  knee 
to  the  SAVIOR  GOD.  (John  17:5;  Col.  i:  19,  2:9;  Rom.  1:1-4; 
Matt.  25:31;   Col.  3:  4;  Phil.  3:21.)      "According  to  the  inward- 


HE    HUMBLED    HIMSELF  9 

working  whereby  He  is  able  to  subdue  the  Universe   {ta  panta,  the 
all)   to  Himself." 

Isa.  55 :  ii,  My  Word — that  goeth  forth  out  of  my  mouth — 
shall  not  return  unto  Me  void,  but  it  shall  accomplish  that  which 
I  please,  and  it  shall  prosper  in  the  thing  whereto  I  sent  it. 

I  Cor.  15  :  20-28, — then  the  end  when  He  shall  deliver  up 
the  Kingdom  to  God,  even  The  Father — that  God  may  be  all 
in  all. 

Rev.  22:  13,  I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega,  the  First  and 
the  Last,  the  Beginning  and  the  End. 

Heb.  11:3,  The  eons  have  been  framed  by  the  Word  of  God, 

These  passages,  with  many  others,  indicate  that  the  Living  Word 
of  God  was  "sent  forth"  with  a  program,  which  had  a  definite  mes- 
sage; which  had  a  beginning  and  an  ending;  the  time  of  which  was 
to  be  within  five  definite  eons.  Now  this  "Rock  of  Ages"  (this 
eonian  God,  Isa.  26:4),  in  following  out  this  eonian  purpose,  humbled 
Himself.  His  whole  course  from  His  first  creative  word  until  His 
work  is  delivered  up,  and  His  Godhood  fully  manifested,  is  one  of 
humiliation,  in  that  His  Godhood  is  veiled ;  in  that  He,  the  Infinite, 
placed  Himself  within  the  limits  of  time  and  space,  that  he  might 
deal  graciously  in  exalting  His  finite  creatures;  in  that  though  One 
with  the  Father  who  demands  perfection,  yet  He  must,  through 
eonian  times,  be  identified  with  a  work  in  all  stages  of  incompleteness, 
which  was  in  that  respect  imperfect ;  and  which  was  not  to  be  acknowl- 
edged until  it  had  fully  met  the  pleasure  of  the  Sender.  It  is  true, 
and  blessedly  true,  that  the  cross  was  a  finished  work,  but  that  was 
negative,  the  abolition  of  sin  and  death;  it  was  destructive,  not  con- 
structive, and  this  is  the  basis  of  most  important  conclusions  set  forth 
in  other  chapters  of  this  book.  It  is  true  also  that  the  person  of 
Christ  was  absolutely  approved  in  the  midst  of  a  wicked  and  adulter- 
ous condition  of  Israel.  But  the  constructive  work  of  a  reconciled 
Universe  will  not  be  endorsed  until  delivered  up  in  satisfactory  condi- 
tion. A  universe  with  a  modern  hell  in  it  must  be  contrary  to  what 
God  has  revealed  of  Himself.  This  sentiment,  inferred  from  the  ex- 
pressed character  of  the  Divine  nature,  is  scoffed  at  as  sentimentality, 
but  the  fact  remains  that  "God  is  Love."  And  the  teaching  of 
Christ  will  not  be  successful  until  that  fact  is  learned.  They  shall 
all  be  taught  of  God,  concerning  God,  and  if  any  refuse  to  accept 
this  teaching,  for  its  surpassing  worth,  they  will  wallow  around  in 
sophistries  of  law,  and  preach  endless  torment  by  Love.    Just  analyze 


10  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

their  efforts  as  some  of  them  try  to  do  this.  For  a  comic  supplement, 
their  incongruous  remarks  would  be  good  copy.  Jesus  said,  My 
teaching  is  not  Mine,  but  His  that  sent  me  (John  7 :  i6,  8 :  28,  46,  47, 
12:  49,  14:  10,  24,  17:8).  There  is  no  revelation  in  this  "teaching" 
of  a  so-called  "eternity."  There  is  nothing  revealed  "before  the  eons" 
except  the  existence  of  "the  unknoiun"  God,  and  certain  "purposes" 
that  He  had.  There  is  no  description  of  what  is  to  follow  when  the 
purpose  of  the  eons  is  accomplished.  The  consummation  of  the  eons 
shows  a  most  wonderful  condition  of  things,  and  the  inference  must  be 
that  "they  lived  happily  ever  afterwards,"  but  there  is  no  description 
of  definite  activities.  We  infer,  then,  that  all  consideration  of  "end- 
less duration"  is  profitless,  before  the  time.  Indeed  the  multiplication 
table  is  more  immediately  practical.  If,  then,  endless  duration  of 
time  is  not  something  that  the  Divine  Teacher  would  have  us  learn, 
what  is  the  theme  and  purpose  of  the  eons?  Well,  here  it  is,  "Christ 
also  died  for  our  sins  once  for  all,  the  just  for  the  unjust,  THAT 
HE  MIGHT  BRING  US  TO  GOD!  (I  Peter  3:  18),  that  you 
might  have  life  in  Christ,  that  you  might  know  the  only  true  God, 
and  He  v/hom  He  sent,  Jesus  Christ.  He  came  to  seek,  to  find,  to 
save  the  lost.  Who  lost  them?  "All  souls  are  mine."  The  purpose? 
— "Not  to  condemn  the  world,  but  that  the  world  through  Him  might 
be  saved;"  "by  the  Son  of  His  Love — to  reconcile  the  Universe  (Col. 
1:20,  ta  panta,  the  all)  unto  Himself,  having  made  peace  through 
the  blood  of  His  cross."  And  in  place  of  this,  men  would  absurdly 
project  their  finite  ideas  of  time  and  space  into  an  infinity  which 
belongs  to  God  alone.  "The  secret  things  belong  unto  Jehovah,  our 
God;  but  the  things  that  are  revealed  belong  unto  us  and  to  our 
children  for  the  eon   {olam,  Deut.  29:29). 

Limited  space  is  defined  by  miles  and  leagues,  but  immeasurable 
space  is  subject  to  no  such  terms.  Measures  of  time  are  expressed  in 
years,  centuries,  and  even  eons,  but  there  we  stop ;  none  of  these  terms 
express  endless  duration,  and  it  is  infringing  on  the  Infinity  of  God  to 
attempt  to  make  them  measure  the  immeasurable;  you  see  all  we 
can  do  is  to  use  a  negative.  Now  God  framed  these  five  eons  as  the 
limit  of  time  in  which  The  Word,  the  text  of  Divine  Revelation,  is 
to  educate  His  intelligent  creatures.  Man  should  not  be  "intruding 
on  things  which  he  hath  not  seen,  vainly  puffed  up  by  his  fleshly 
m.ind."  By  an  abuse  of  the  word  "eonian,"  men  think  they  express 
this  forbidden  incongruity.    But  they  must  still  conceive  of  things  in 


HE    HUMBLED    HIMSELF  11 

terms  of  time  and  space,  and  the  attempt  to  put  a  positive  meaning  on 
the  negative  terms,  endless,  infinite,  is  a  delusion  which  turns  atten- 
tion from  the  God  of  Love  to  the  mechanical  tick-tock  of  the  clock. 
In  His  last  recorded  utterance  our  Lord  says,  "I  am  the  Alpha  and 
the  Omega."  This  is  the  whole  alphabet  of  the  Living  Word.  This 
present  dispensation  is  an  unannounced  number  on  the  Divine  pro- 
gram, and  its  introduction  is  a  surprise. 

In  contrast  to  this  unrevealed  "Sempiternity"  which  the  Son 
might  claim  for  Himself  by  virtue  of  His  equality  with  the  Divine 
Sender  (Phil.  2:  6)  He  excludes  it  from  the  program  of  His  venture, 
and,  contrary  to  the  common  tradition,  does  not  refer  to  it  as  having 
any  present  moral  or  spiritual  value.  He  delivers  up  to  the  Father 
a  Universe  perfected  within  the  allotted  eonian  times. 

As  to  these  five  eons,  see  diagrams.  "This  present  evil  eon" 
(Gal.  1:4)  is  easily  seen  by  Berean  searchers.  "The  eon  to  come" 
(Heb.  6:5)  is  recognized  by  prophetic  students  as  the  Millennium. 
That  another  eon  follows  the  Millennium  is  involved  in  the  plural, 
the  eons  of  Eph.  2 :  9.  Two  eons  also  precede  this  present  one.  Peter 
speaks  of  the  "ancient"  cosmos,  from  Adam  to  Noah  (II  Peter  2:5), 
and  the  pre-Adamic,  or  "then,"  cosmos  (II  Peter  3:6).  That  every 
cosmos  has  its  eon  is  revealed  by  Eph.  2:  2,  "the  eon  of  this  cosmos" 
(confusedly  rendered  "course  of  the  world"  because  in  161 1  the 
doctrine  of  the  eons  had  not  been  elucidated).  There  is  Scripture 
connected  with  each  of  these  five  eons,  which  needs  to  be  thus  rightly 
divided.  Much  of  the  chaos  found  in  published  views  of  eschatology 
would  be  removed  if  the  two  coming  eons  and  their  essential  character 
and  appropriate  Scripture  were  differentiated. 

An  eon  is  the  period  of  germination,  growth,  or  development,  and 
maturity,  of  any  progressive  series  of  events,  or  of  any  living  soul. 
"Everything  has  its  eon,"  saj's  Thomas  De  Quincey  (Standard  Dic- 
tionary, eon).  So  these  five  main  Scripture  eons  show  five  periods  of 
development  in  God's  eonian  purpose  (Eph.  3:  11),  the  last  one  only 
showing  a  perfected  and  an  acceptable  conclusion.  The  others  end 
in  catastrophe.  See  I  Cor.  2:7,  "before  the  eons;"  II  Thess.  i :  9 
and  Titus  1 :  2,  "The  Eonian  times;"  I  Cor.  10:11,  "the  ends  of 
the  eons;"  Heb.  i :  2,  "He  made  the  eons." 

This  program  of  the  eons  had  a  beginning.  "I  am  the  beginning" 
— "The  First-born  of  all  Creation" — The  Work  of  the  Word  has 
been  progressive.     It  will  have  a  culmination  in  the  dispensation  of 


12  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

the   fulness  of   the   seasons,   in   the   Universal    Headship   of   Christ 
(Eph,  1:9,  10,  22),  Christ  victorious!     God  became  known! 

Since  the  days  of  the  council  of  Nice  (A.  D,  325)  Arius  has  had 
the  very  doubtful  honor  of  godfather,  furnishing  a  name  for  those 
who  detract  from  the  Divine  glory  of  the  Son,  because  they  do  not 
see  beyond  the  veil  of  His  humiliation.  These  Arians  follow  the 
father  of  pride,  in  denying  the  Oneness  of  God  and  His  Word.  Their 
spokesman  says  that  the  Son  was  an  "instrument"  and  thus  subordi- 
nate, therefore  inferior  in  nature  and  dignity.  Here  is  his  argument 
which  the  natural  man  accepts  readily  enough.  "The  Father  is  a 
father ;  the  Son  is  a  son :  therefore,  the  Father  must  [  ?]  have  existed 
before  the  Son;  therefore,  once  the  Son  was  not:  therefore  He  was 
made,  like  all  creatures  of  a  substance  that  had  not  previously  ex- 
isted." This  is  taken  from  Volume  VH,  said  to  be  a  posthumous 
publication  of  Pastor  Russell's  authorship.  Thousands  under  his  lead 
have  fallen  over  this  cheap  argument.  They  do  err,  not  knowing  the 
Scriptures  nor  the  power  and  wisdom  of  God. 


G  O  D,— 

Absolute,  Self-sufficient,  Self-existent  is 

THE  UNKNOWN  GOD. 


GOD, 

having  created  the  Universe,  the  relation  of  the  two  must 
be  recognized.  This  relationship  is  revealed  from  First  to  Last  in 
terms  of  Fatherhood  and  Sonship.  God's  Son  is  the  Creative  Word 
which  existed  in  God  before  utterance.  His  Word  is  one  with  God. 
This  God  in  manifestation  is  not  another  God,  for  He  can  say,  "I 
am  God  and  there  is  none  else."  Read  Isa.  45:23,  55:6-13; 
Matt.  24:35;  I  John  4:  14;  John  3:  19,  4:42,  5:30,6:38,  6:43-63, 
7:  16,  17,  8:  14;  here  is  a  temporary  subordination,  but  oneness  all 
the  same.  God  hath  spoken  in  many  ways  and  forms,  last  of  all  He 
has  spoken  in  Son  (Heb.  1:2).  Because  God's  utterance  of  Himself 
takes  this  outward  form,  it  is  none  the  less  Himself.  "I  and  my 
Father  are  one."  Instead  of  caviling  because  "The  Word"  is  thus 
seen,  we  should  ask  to  be  strengthened  by  His  Spirit  in  the  inner  man 
that  we  might  be  able  to  comprehend; — and  all  this  subordination 
of  The  Son  is  for  our  sakes.  If  we  are  willing  to  do  His  will  we 
shall  know  of  the  doctrine,  and  thanks  will  take  the  place  of  doubt. 


HE    HUMBLED    HIMSELF  I3 

The  Heavens  declare, — All  His  Works  show  forth  His  glory, — 
the  Bible,  its  human  words  purified  seven  times,  is  God  speaking.  But 
the  Living  Son  of  God  from  Alpha  to  Omega  is  the  full  utterance  of 
God  to  His  creatures;  how  can  this  be  less  than  God?  This  is  God 
making  Himself  known;  "No  man  knoweth  the  Father  otherwise,  but 
the  Son  and  he  to  whom  the  Son  will  reveal  Him;"  NOT  otherwise! 
Where  will  you  find  God  outside  of  His  Son?  Since  resurrection 
has  demonstrated  the  Sonship  of  Christ,  all  things  must  be  regarded 
in  the  light  of  that  fact,  and  also  of  His  present  position  in  that 
character  as  Head  of  the  new  creation.  He  is  exercising  spiritual 
power  to  bring  about  the  good  pleasure  of  the  Divine  will. 

This  wideness  of  outlook  is  to  be  seen  in  the  following  quotation 
from  Peter  Sterry,  one  of  Cromwell's  chaplains.  "The  growth  of 
evil  in  man  is  thus, — Disorder  before  God, — contrariety  to  Him, — 
enmity  against  Him,  So  the  opposition  groweth  higher  and  higher, 
till  wrath  swallow  up  the  sin,  the  sinner,  the  shadows,  and  all  of  the 
first  Adam ;  when  wrath  itself  is  swallowed  up  in  the  grace  and  glory." 
"Both  of  these  came  to  pass  in  the  death  and  resurrection  of  the  Second 
Adam,  our  Lord  Jesus"  (H,  p.  446),  and  in  a  letter  he  says:  "Jesus 
Christ,  as  the  universal  person,  and  Spirit  in  which  all  these  subsisted, 
which  alone  truly  subsisted  in  All,  by  dying,  carried  down  the  whole 
offending  and  polluted  world  into  death;  in  that  death  all  things 
are  dissolved  into  their  first  principle,  into  the  Divine  Unity,  into  the 
Unity  of  the  Eternal  (eonian)  Spirit;  thus,  all  sins,  sinners,  wrath 
are  swallowed  up  in  the  first  unity  of  the  Eternal  (eonian)  Spirit, 
which  is  the  fountain  of  beauty,  the  fountain  of  Love"  (H,  p.  474). 

The  Headships  of  Christ  are  an  important  part  of  revelation,  and 
they  cannot  be  ignored  if  one  is  searching  for  the  whole  truth  on 
human  destiny. 

I  Cor.  11:3,  But  I  would  have  you  know,  that  the  head  of  every 
man  is  Christ ;  and  the  head  of  the  woman  is  the  man ;  and  the  head 
of  Christ  is  God. 

Col.  1:18,  And  He  is  the  Head  of  the  Body. 

Eph.  1 :  22,  4:  15,  Head  over  the  Universe  {ta  panta,  the  all). 

Col.  i:  15,  2:  10,  First-born  of  all  creation. 

Col.  1:18,  First-born  from  the  dead,  that  in  all  things  He  might 
have  the  pre-eminence  ( Rev.  1:5). 

Rev.  3:  14,  beginning  (or  head)  of  the  creation  of  God. 

Rom.  8 :  29,  First-born  of  many  brethren. 


14  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Heb.  1 :  6,  And  when  he  shall  have  brought  in  again  the  First- 
born into  the  habitable  earth, — 

I  Cor.  15  :  20,  23,  first  fruits. 

"First-born,"  "First  fruits,"  are  words  taken  from  the  Law,  and 
they  are  representative  t3^pes  fulfilled  in  Christ.  Even  the  first  word 
of  Genesis  is  "By-Headships,"  the  plural  ignored  in  translation. 

Andrew  Jukes  called  attention  to  this  important  doctrine  (i860) 
and  its  bearing  on  God's  way  of  redemption.  That  others  have  rec- 
ognized it  is  seen  in  the  fact  that  the  sixteenth  impression  of  his 
book  was  made  in  1904.  But  this  is  the  way  Robert  Anderson 
greets  it.  First,  he  rightly  sees  in  Jukes's  work  "a  reverent  and 
patient  study  of  the  Scriptures,  to  the  sacredness  and  authority  of 
which  he  gives  a  noble  testimony;  a  writer  who  has  the  courage  of 
his  convictions,  who,  taking  his  stand  upon  the  great  sacrifice  of  Cal- 
vary, proclaims  the  Gospel  of  universal  restoration  (reconciliation, 
the  Scripture  word,  is  better).  This  is  indeed  to  think  noble  deeds 
of  God."  He  adds,  "Who  is  there  who  would  not  crave  to  find  a 
warrant  for  accepting  it  as  true?" 

He  then  speaks  of  Jukes's  use  of  the  "first-born"  as  a  signal  in- 
stance of  meanings  attributed  to  Scripture  that  the  reader  never 
thought  of.  The  author  of  "The  Restitution  of  all  things"  points 
to  the  law  of  the  first-born  and  the  law  of  the  first  fruits  as  affording 
"the  key  to  one  part  of  the  apparent  contradiction  between  mercy 
upon  all  and  yet  the  election  of  a  little  flock.  The  elect,  though  the 
first  delivered,  have  a  relation  to  the  whole  creation,  which  shall  be 
saved  in  the  appointed  times  by  the  first-born  seed,  that  is  by  Christ 
and  His  Body" — "Passing  by  this  extraordinary  theory,  this  appeal  to 
the  types  needs  looking  into, — the  first  fruits  had  no  relation  save  to 
the  harvest  of  the  favored  land,  and  the  redemption  of  the  first-born 
was  side  by  side  with  judgment  on  the  Egyptians,  the  tribes  of  the 
wilderness  and  the  nations  of  Canaan.  Therefore,  while  these  tj'pes 
are  a  real  difficulty  in  the  way  of  those  who  would  limit  the  redemp- 
tion to  the  Church  of  the  first-born,  they  seem  no  less  inconsistent 
with  the  author's  ov/n  position.  If  types  can  be  thus  used  at  all, 
they  establish  the  views  of  those  v/ho  hold  a  place  btween  these  two 
extremes.  The  sheaf  of  the  first  fruits,  the  wave  loaves  of  Pentecost, 
and  the  great  festival  of  harvest  vAW  have  their  dispensational  ful- 
filment in  the  ever-widening  circle  of  blessing  upon  earth;  but  if  the 
final  harvest  v.^ill  include  the  lost  of  previous  dispensations,  this  must 


HE    HUMBLED    HIMSELF  15 

be  established  from  other  Scriptures,  for  there  is  nothing  in  the  type 
to  correspond  with  it." 

Anderson  minimizes  by  confining  his  argument  to  first-born  ones 
of  Israel,  but  if  he  would  look  further  he  would  see  Christ  as  "the 
first-born  of  the  Universe" — The  First-born  representative  saved  the 
family  at  the  Passover.  The  Levitical  tribe  took  the  representative 
place  for  the  Twelve  tribes. 

"Israel  is  my  first-born,  only  the  earthly,  but  as  first-born  even 
though  of  the  least  loved  wife,  they  must  in  their  own  sphere  possess 
the  double  blessing,  for  they  must  yet  bless  the  nations  whose  con- 
version is  promised  to  Israel."  This  will  be  when  by  their  acceptance 
of  their  risen  Messiah  they  become  a  complete  nation. 

"That  the  first  elect  and  blessed  are  thus  elect  for  the  sake  of  the 
mass  is  also  seen  in  the  law  of  the  firstlings  of  beasts,  clean  and  un- 
clean. The  lamb  redeems  the  ass.  The  clean  are  called  to  sacrifice. 
This  is  the  law  of  love." 

Though  thus  far  limitations  can  be  pointed  out,  yet  the  principle 
is  widening  in  its  scope.  Now  refer  to  Eph.  i :  22,  23,  where  we  have 
Christ  "Head  over  the  Universe,"  with  his  "Body"  chosen  in  Him 
before  the  wreck  of  the  cosmos.  Here  is  a  "Body"  chosen  for  the 
highest  place  in  the  reorganization  of  creation.  In  the  "exceeding 
riches  of  grace"  we  see  even  more  than  a  double  portion  is  given  to 
this  elect  and  First-born  which  has  a  universal  ministry.  This  takes 
us  beyond  the  human  race,  which  is  the  sphere  of  Israel.  The  harvest 
of  the  earth  is  the  result  of  Israel's  1,000  years'  ministry  to  living 
nations,  but  the  Heavenly  body  will  take  blessing  to  the  great  majority, 
who  died  in  ignorance  and  unbelief ;  they  will  see  the  perfected  work 
of  Christ  in  a  reconciled  Universe.  Even  suppose  that  this  is  not  to 
be  their  sphere  of  service,  j^et  Christ  has  means  by  which  the  victory 
shall  be  His. 

Though  Anderson  controverts  Jukes,  yet  he  says  that  "  'The 
Restitution  of  All  Things'  might  with  fairness  be  adopted  as  a  hand- 
book in  the  controversy."  An  extract  hardly  treats  the  book  fairly, 
yet  here  is  one: — "What  does  the  Law  (Pentateuch)  teach  us  of 
this  First-born  from  the  dead;  (Christ,  Col.  i :  18) — for  be  it  observed 
it  is  ever  the  first-born  from  the  grave  that  the  law  speaks  of, — 
therefore,  the  woman's,  not  the  man's  first-born,  "the  male  which 
first  openeth  the  womb"  (Ex.  13:  12,  34:'i9;  Num.  3:  12;  on  him 
devolved  the  duty  of  Redeemer;  {gaal)  to  redeem  a  brother  who  had 
2 


1 6  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

waxen  poor  and  sold  himself  unto  a  stranger;  to  avenge  his  blood; 
to  raise  up  seed  to  the  dead ;  and  to  redeem  the  inheritance,  if  at  any 
time  it  were  lost  or  alienated  (Lev.  25:47,  48;  Deut.  19:4-12; 
Gen.  38:  8;  Deut. 25:  5-10;  Ruth  4:  6-10;  Lev. 25:  25;  Ruth  2:  2,  3). 
To  sustain  these  duties  God  gave  him  a  double  portion  (Deut. 
21 :  17).  Need  I  point  out  how  Christ  fulfils  these  particulars;  how 
as  first  out  of  the  grave,  that  barren  womb  which  cries,  "Give,  give" 
(Prov.  30:  15,  16),  He  is  the  First-born  through  whom  the  blessing 
reaches  us.  In  this  sense  no  Christian  doubts  that  God's  purpose  is 
by  the  First-born  from  the  dead  to  save  and  bless  the  later  born." — 
"Few  even  of  the  elect  see  that  they  are  elect  to  this  birthright 
obligation." 

"So  in  the  law  of  the  first  fruits,  the  seed  of  nature  figures  the  seed 
of  the  kingdom.  The  law  here  speaks  of  a  double  first  fruits.  The 
first,  the  sheaf  offered  at  the  feast  of  unleavened  bread.  The  other, 
offered  in  the  form  of  leavened  cakes,  fifty  days  later,  at  Pentecost. 
The  Passover  ears  were  called  Rashith,  the  cakes  at  Pentecost  Bi- 
courim,  to  which  the  gospel  agrees,  saying,  "Christ,  the  first  fruits," 
"Christ,  the  first-born,"  and  "the  Church  of  first-born  ones," — words 
which  carry  blessing,  "for  if  the  first  fruit  be  holy,  the  lump  is  also 
holy." 

There  is  a  Theology  not  yet  dead,  which  has  the  Savior  elect  the 
first-born  to  be  saved,  and  condemns  all  the  rest  to  hell,  to  the 
hell  of  Plato,  of  Tertullian,  of  Augustine,  of  Thomas,  of  Dante, 
of  Calvin,  to  the  hell  imagined  in  the  ignorance  of  gospel  and  un- 
belief in  Christ's  power,  which  is  found  in  the  publications  of  Church 
Societies  and  Bible  Institutes,  such  as,  "Is  there  a  literal  hell," 
"the  hereafter  of  sin,"  and  in  the  systematic  theology  of  Shedd, 
Haley,  Edwards,  Emmons,  and  most  of  the  sects.  Scripture  does 
not  say  that  the  first-bom  only  shall  be  saved,  but  that  with  a  double 
portion  they  serve  to  make  the  promise  true  that  in  Abraham's  seed 
and  in  Sarah's  first-born  by  supernatural  power,  all  families  of  the 
earth  shall  be  blessed.  What  poverty-stricken  expedients  are  resorted 
to  to  "limit  the  Holy  One  of  Israel"  by  belittling  this  word. 

This  typical  teaching  is  followed  up  by  noting  that  the  Sabbatic 
year  was  for  the  release  of  all  Israel,  and  that  on  the  Jubilee  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  land  were  delivered,  i  Cor.  15 :  28  tells  us  that  all 
things  shall  be  subject  to  Christ,  and  Col.  i :  20  tells  us  that  all 
things  shall  be  reconciled  to  God. 


HE     HUMBLED     HIMSELF  1 7 

Christ,  "The  Son  of  The  Father's  Love,"  was  First-born  of  all 
creation,  and  thus  its  responsible  representative,  the  whole  unified 
under  His  Headship.  He  identified  Himself  with  it  in  Spirit,  and 
even  in  body;  that  holy  thing  that  was  born  of  Mary  being  built  out 
of  its  matter.  In  this  humiliating  identity  he  voluntarily  fulfilled 
the  part  of  First-born,  and  under  law  "becoming  sin  for  us" 
(H  Cor.  5)  went  down  into  death.  By  this  one  act  of  its  responsible 
Head,  the  race  paid  the  one  only  Scriptural  penalty  for  sin.  Since  the 
resurrection  of  Christ,  Law  has  been  "done  away"  and  with  the  law 
sin  was  "done  away"  and  death  has  been  "made  void"  as  a  penalty 
for  sin.  They,  who  would  preach  truth,  are  charged  to  say  that  "God 
was  in  Christ  reconciling  the  world  to  Himself,  not  charging  their 
sins  unto  them."  H  Cor.  5  :  14-21,  "For  we  thus  judge  that  if  Christ 
died  for  all,  then  all  died!" 

This  high  note  of  Scriptural  truth  is  strangely  rare  in  the  argument 
of  opposing  theologians.  In  an  attempt  to  establish  a  teaching,  we 
would  expect  to  see  the  best  evidences  brought  out.  There  must  be 
ignorance  or  carelessness,  if  not  worse,  thus  to  neglect  God's  Word. 
From  Origen  on  one  side  and  Augustine  on  the  other  down,  there  is 
little  to  be  found  on  the  First-born  responsibility  and  Headship  of 
Christ,  and  nothing  in  the  way  of  a  consistent  Biblical  doctrine  of 
the  eons.  "Eonian"  was  appealed  to,  more  as  a  prop  to  a  theory  than 
as  the  foundation  for  an  obedient  faith.  Robert  Anderson,  though 
a  keen  writer,  simply  says:  "Passing  by  the  extraordinary  theory" — 
and  there  you  are.  If  intelligent,  earnest  Bible  students  can  thus 
"pass  by"  such  valuable  helps,  no  wonder  the  truth  is  still  under  a 
cloud.  Vicious  ecclesiastical  envy  is  today  a  hindrance  equaled  only 
in  the  case  of  those  magnates  who  put  their  Messiah  to  death.  Ander- 
son has  shown  this  up  in  his  book,  "The  Bible  or  the  Church,"  where 
he  recognizes  that  every  organized  religious  body  that  ever  existed 
has  been  the  enemy  of  the  truth.  Stephen  testified  of  the  Jewish 
Church  that  they  rejected  Moses,  that  from  the  golden  calf  to  the  very 
martyrdom  of  the  speaker  they  did  always  resist  the  Holy  Spirit. 
And  it  is  only  necessary  to  ask,  "What  has  been  responsible  for  the 
murder  of  millions  of  Christian  witnesses,  for  inquisitions,  and  ex- 
communications, from  Diotrephes,  who  would  not  receive  the  Apostle 
John,  to  the  church  attitude  of  the  present  day?"  There  is  a  diaboli- 
cal watchfulness  of  the  "systems"  lest  the  truth  should  be  spoken  by 
someone  outside  the  pale;  a  heresy  hunting  which  does  not  care  for 


l8  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

heresy  against  truth  so  much  as  it  does  for  the  least  touch  on  ecclesi- 
astical sore  spots. 

On  one  side  some  noble  testimony  has  been  gathered  from  Scrip- 
ture advocating  "Restoration,"  but  the  very  word  used  is  below  the 
key  when  we  have  the  term,  "reconciliation  of  the  Universe" 
(Col.  1 :  20,  ta  panta,  the  all).  Of  these  we  have  Origen,  the  first 
comprehensive  Bible  student  (253),  Gregory  Nyssa,  a  defender  of 
the  Council  of  Nice  (395),  William  Law  (1766),  Erskine  (1870), 
Bishop  Ewing  (1873),  Andrew  Jukes  (1867).  See  lists  in  Farrar's 
"Mercy  and  Judgment"  and  Plumptre's  "Spirits  in  Prison."  These 
books  made  a  stir  half  a  century  ago,  in  spite  of  Church  of  England 
handicap.  But  all  they  gave  us  v/ith  much  learning  and  eloquence 
was  only  a  "hope"  that  hell  is  not  so  bad  as  it  is  painted.  The  latest 
writers,  who  have  apparently  profited  by  all  this,  and  who  have  boldly 
given  original  and  scholarly  lead  in  Bible  searching,  are  V.  Gelesnoff, 
and  A.  E,  Knoch  of  Los  Angeles  ( 1908- 1920) .  The  latter  is  publish- 
ing a  new  and  valuable  Concordant  Version  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

On  the  so-called  orthodox  side,  with  its  exaggerated  descriptions 
of  torment  in  endless  hell,  are  such  as  Augustine  (A.  D.  430), 
Dante  (1321),  Calvin  (1564),  Edwards  (1758),  John  Foster 
(1843).  These  were  predestinarian,  which  was  right  enough  if  con- 
fined to  Scripture,  but  they  added  the  false  idea  of  "reprobation," 
which  was  about  as  poisonous  as  a  typhoid  germ.  Nathaniel  Emmons, 
in  theological  zeal  without  knowledge,  says,  "It  is  absolutely  necessary 
to  approve  of  the  doctrine  of  reprobation  in  order  to  be  saved." 

All  argument  that  appeals  to  the  relative  numbers  of  saved  or  lost 
is  unworthy  of  the  subject;  though  m.en  and  theologians  of  all  kinds 
are  guilty  on  this  count.  "Lord,  are  there  few  that  be  saved?" 
The  Lord  did  not  say  yes  or  no.  What  he  did  do  was  to  call  at- 
tention to  the  entrance  into  the  Millennial  Kingdom,  which  was  the 
immediate  issue.  There  are  some  who  would  dislocate  the  answer 
and  make  it  apply  to  the  perfected  work  of  Christ,  thus  impugning 
that  perfection.  Is  it  not  a  shameful  thing  that  a  false  predestina- 
rianism  should  count  in  the  infant  dead,  and  so  make  a  majority  of 
saved?  This  says  that  if  evil  had  fair  play  it  would  win  more 
souls  than  Christ.  Is  this  glad  tidings  of  great  joy?  The  character 
of  God  is  not  to  be  aspersed  by  such  ideas.  If  one  intelligent  crea- 
ture, who  was  loved  in  his  creation,  redeemed  from  his  fallen  condi- 
tion, taught  of  God,  raised  from  the  dead,  is  to  suffer  future  penalty 


HE    HUMBLED    HIMSELF  I9 

for  sin,  light  or  heavy,  we  may  well  ask  the  question,  why?  and 
exercise  our  spiritual  perceptions  over  the  problem.  As  an  act  of  God 
it  must  reflect  His  character,  and  the  whole  work  of  Christ  is  to 
make  God  known  to  the  universe.  When  the  purpose  of  the  eons  is 
realized,  that  will  show  what  was  in  the  mind  of  God  before  eonian 
times.  How  feeble  and  futile  the  contention  that  ignores  this,  and 
consigns  vast  multitudes  to  a  horrible  hell,  and  this  by  self-deter- 
mination alone;  thus  fatuously  apologizing  for  the  Creator. 

Now  without  denying  the  apparent  contradictions  in  our 
English  translation,  Faith  says  there  must  be  a  satisfactory  intel- 
ligible solution. 

Was  God's  purpose  to  be  thwarted  by  the  ignorance,  the  unbe- 
lief, the  sin,  the  free-will,  of  His  creature?  The  potter  breaks  the 
clay  that  he  has  formed  and  remolds  to  his  own  pleasure.  God's  plan 
shows,  in  every  form  of  life,  that  death,  judgment,  destruction, 
wrath  against  ignorant  and  rebellious  opposition,  precede  his  final 
accomplishment; — life  out  of  death,  not  death  destroying  the  life. 
Was  this  an  afterthought?  Is  it  asked.  Why?  It  is  for  the  gradual 
education  of  intelligent  creatures.  Is  not  this  sufficient  answer,  when 
we  read,  "They  shall  all  be  taught  of  God"?  Was  there  not  fore- 
knowledge and  a  specific  object  in  making  His  living  Word,  His  Son, 
the  first-born  of  All  Creation,  God  manifest  in  the  flesh?  and  having 
Him  taste  death  for  every  man?  Making  Him  first-born  from  the 
dead.  Head  of  a  new  creation  which  He  delivers  up  to  The  Father, 
who  then  endorses  its  perfection,  becoming  "God  all  in  all"?  Why 
take  Eden  as  the  first  element  in  this  problem,  when  we  have  the 
claim  of  Jesus  on  record,  "I  am  the  beginning  and  the  ending"? 
But,  after  all,  "A  man  can  receive  nothing  except  it  be  given  from 
above."     (John  3 127;  I  Cor.  2:  9- 11.) 

Cain  comes  before  Abel,  Nimrod  before  Abraham,  Ishmael  be- 
fore Isaac,  Esau  before  Jacob,  Saul  before  David,  Antichrist  and 
the  Day  of  Wrath  before  Christ  and  the  Millennial  blessing.  Yes! 
The  destruction  of  all  evil  before  the  establishment  of  all  good.  Sin 
reigned  in  death  before  men  saw  the  reign  of  grace,  of  righteousness, 
and  life  the  gift  of  God.  If  grace  does  not  save,  punishment  or 
discipline  never  will.  Purgatory  does  not  purify.  The  glory  of 
Jesus  saved  Saul.  The  glory  of  the  Son  of  Man  will  convert  some 
in  the  Millennial  reign;  the  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  will  bring  in 
all  not  saved  during  seven  preceding  chiliads.     (Isa.  66:  8-19.) 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  PERSONAL  EQUATION 

A  chief  engineer  must  rely  upon  data  collected  by  subordinates. 
These  run  levels,  stake  out  boundaries,  estimate  quantities.  Acting 
on  these  details,  allowance  must  often  be  n\ade  for  what  is  called 
the  personal  equation.  Temperament,  experience,  and  habitual 
methods  will  vary  in  small  items,  and  a  combination  of  a  large 
number  of  these  may  seriously  affect  the  result  upon  which  action 
is  to  be  based. 

Published  results  of  Bible  study  are  necessary  if  there  is  to  be 
mutual  helpfulness,  but  spiritual  perception  must  weigh  these  human 
utterances  before  accepting  them.  They  do  not  deal  with  inanimate 
matter  as  the  builder  does,  and  they  are  also  fragmentary.  We  see 
the  exact  truth  perverted  by  many  things, — temperamental,  emo- 
tional, intellectual,  sensual,  social,  racial,  official,  sectarian,  sacra- 
mental, legal,  educational,  traditional,  egoistic.  The  grade  runs 
from  the  high-church  sacramentarian,  through  sects  wide  and  narrow, 
to  an  ordinary  human  being ;  who  may  be  of  the  unchurched  masses, 
but  who  stands  by  faith  on  the  common  ground  of  grace,  unin- 
fluenced by  any  earthly  institution  but  the  family;  with  no  member- 
ship, official  or  lay,  in  any  earthly  society,  religious,  political,  or 
scientific ;  with  no  fear  of  excommunication ;  with  no  reputation  to 
gain  or  to  lose;  satisfied  with  the  spiritual  fellowship  of  those  who 
love  God  and  His  Word.  There  are  those  who  believe  in  that 
heavenly  "Body"  of  Christ  mentioned  in  Eph.  1 :  22.  This  Body 
is  the  symbol  of  that  perfect  organization  which  has  Christ  Jesus 
for  its  "Head,"  and  for  its  only  official.  The  members  are  unified 
in  Him,  all  in  the  equality  and  liberty  of  grace.  Individual  members 
are  not  to  be  appealed  to  as  "authorities"  in  church  government,  or 
in  doctrine.  The  Bible  is  the  authoritative  utterance  of  Divine 
Truth. 

This  "personal  equation"  becomes  comparatively  negligible  in 
the  Scripture  writers;  to  be  taken  into  account  as  far  as  outward 
form  and  literary  style  is  concerned,  but  not  for  anything  that  is 
authoritative.  The  accuracy  of  Divine  utterance  is  assured  by  the 
Divine  Author,  not  by  the  human  channel.  Just  so,  God  was 
manifest  in  the  flesh  of  that  Holy  thing  that  was  born  of  Mary. 

20 


THE    PERSONAL    EQUATION  21 

Uncertainty  in  Bible  reading  is  found,  not  in  its  language,  but  in 
the  possible  inaccuracy  of  our  perceptions. 

Here  is  an  application  of  the  idea.  In  the  generation  that  ended, 
say  A.  D.  1880,  there  were  writers  of  natural  ability,  and  years  of 
literary  and  theological  training,  who  made  famous  protest  against 
pyromaniacal  exaggerations  of  hell-fire.  They  condemned  with 
vigor,  and  rightly,  lurid  descriptions  of  endless  pains,  physical  and 
mental,  which  were  to  endure  endlessly  with  ever-increasing  in- 
tensity, as  the  retribution  demanded  by  a  human  intuitive  sense  of 
justice.  Many  writers  from  Tertullian  down  were  quoted, 
describing  the  execution  of  these  tortures  at  the  hand  of  God. 
Rhetorical  flights,  which  lost  some  of  their  offensiveness  by  their  very 
pose  as  "thrillers,"  were  shown  to  be  perversions  of  Scripture,  in 
translation,  exegesis,  homiletics,  and  dogmatic  assertion.  Of  these 
protesters  were  Dean  Plumptre,  who  wrote  "Spirits  in  Prison;" 
Canon  Farrar,  with  his  "Eternal  Hope"  and  "Mercy  and  Judg- 
ment;" Maurice,  Kingsley,  and  others  of  the  Church  of  England. 
Readers  recognized  the  fervid  indignation  of  their  protests,  the 
finished  scholarship,  the  diligent  research, — but,  a  "Dissenter"  would 
miss  the  note  to  which  evangelicalism  is  attuned.  Regeneration  seems 
to  cut  no  figure  in  their  argument;  and  then  it  occurs  to  him, — of 
course, — these  writers  all  believe  in  baptismal  regeneration.  A  little 
sacramental  water,  of  which  they  have  no  memory,  could  not  have 
the  influence  upon  the  habit  of  the  mind  and  language  that  the 
intensity  of  an  act  of  belief  and  an  experience  of  conversion  would. 
At  this  time  also  Pusey  and  Newman  wrote.  They  were  advocates 
of  the  future  retribution  for  sin  by  the  endless  torments  of  hell,  and 
though  they  were  inclined  to  modify  its  cruelty,  yet  they  bore  this 
sacramental  "yoke,"  in  common  with  nine-tenths  of  the  writers  on 
this  subject,  whichever  side  they  advocate. 

They  wrote  about  it  under  the  theological  term  of  "Retribution," 
and  strictly  on  the  basis  of  law,  justice  and  penalty.  Now  "the 
personal  equation"  of  this  legal  position  must  be  taken  into  account, 
if  you  are  to  profit  by  any  of  this  literature.  The  subject  may  and 
should  be  considered  outside  the  limits  of  the  Thirty-nine  Articles. 
A  strictly  legal  decision,  though  logically  and  theologically  main- 
tained, is  in  error  in  that  it  is  "in  part"  only;  it  omits  matter  vital 
to  the  issues  of  the  case.  A  partial  truth  is  a  lie.  Is  God  to  be 
restricted   to   the   functions   of   a  legal   officer   in    His   judgments? 


22  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Ps.  99:1-4,  "Jehovah  reigneth, — The  King's  strength  also  loveth 
justice,  Thou  dost  establish  equity;  Thou  executest  justice  and 
righteousness  in  Jacob."  Now  a  king  establishes  justice  in  a  wider 
sphere  than  the  judge  in  a  court  of  law;  he  takes  into  account  other 
principles,  and  a  wider  range  of  interests  in  His  decisions.  But  far 
above  these,  God's  final  adjustment  of  Universal  Cosmos  involves 
every  consideration  that  can  affect  any  creature  or  any  Divine  purpose. 

Are  we  to  argue,  then,  about  an  unlimited  future,  and  decide 
God's  interests  on  a  strictly  legal  plane?  Or  even  on  a  kingly  plane? 
Should  we  not  recognize  that  "when  the  judgments  of  Jehovah  God 
are  in  the  earth,  the  people  will  learn  righteousness?"  What  is 
righteousness? — Righteousness  is  conformity  to  standard.  What  is 
the  Divine  standard? — The  Bible  reveals  several  standards.  Have 
you  talked  about  justice  without  knowing  what  these  standards  are, 
and  how  attained?  If  so,  confess  with  Job,  "I  have  uttered  that 
which  I  understood  not"  (42:3).  We  must  make  allowance  when 
we  listen  to  these  churchmen,  and  note  the  strictly  legal  limitation 
of  their  arguments.  We  are  not  to  accept  their  conclusions  as  if 
they  were  based  on  royal  prerogative,  or  Divine  omniscience. 

We  must  be  on  our  guard  against  false  reasonings  and  unfair 
statements  in  evidence  offered.  To  disparage  the  advocate  of  "the 
reconciliation  of  the  Universe,"  we  hear  these  words  ascribed  to  them 
in  a  sneering  tone,  "God  is  too  good  and  loving  to  punish  people." 
It  is  unfair  to  imply  that  any  intelligent  person  would  say  this.  The 
sentence  is  false  in  this  respect,  and,  what  is  worse,  it  insinuates  that 
no  inference  is  to  be  drawn  from  the  nature  of  God.  These  same 
cavilers  draw  inferences  from  God's  justice.  "Shall  not  the  Judge 
of  all  the  earth  do  right?" — ^Yes.  But  we  read  that  "God  is  Love." 
This  is  a  revelation  of  His  nature,  and  it  is  the  mission  of  Christ 
Jesus  to  make  this  nature  known.  It  is  sophistical  to  question  the 
propriety  of  drawing  an  inference  from  this  blessed  fact.  But  to 
belittle  this  unwelcome  evidence,  it  is  called  "sentimentality."  An 
endless  hell  of  torment  is  an  inference,  not  from  the  nature  of  God, 
but  from  man's  demand  for  the  vindication  of  justice, — a  demand 
that  denies  that  justice  was  vindicated  at  the  cross,  and  this  for  the 
Universe,  and  in  a  manner  that  has  the  sanction  of  God's  approval 
in  the  fact  of  resurrection.  We  must  not  admit  that  justice  is  the 
only  Divine  principle  from  which  we  are  to  draw  conclusions  as  to 
human  destiny. 


THE     PERSONAL    EQUATION  23 

And,  furthermore,  is  one's  testimony  to  be  "passed  by"  because 
he  accepts  for  fact  the  simple  statements, — "taketh  away  the  sin  of 
the  world,"  "Christ  has  been  manifested  to  put  away  sin  by  His 
sacrifice;"  "He  that  is  dead  is  freed  from  sin"  (Rom.  6:7);  "The 
wages  of  sin  is  death"  (Rom.  6;  23)  ;  "Christ  died  for  all,  therefore, 
all  died"  (H  Cor.  5  :  14-20).  Robert  Anderson  writes  in  his  "Human 
Destiny,"  p.  153,  "Where  does  Scripture  teach  that  everlasting 
(eonian)  torment  is  the  penalty  of  sin?  DEATH  is  the  penalty 
of  sin."  .  .  .  "Sin's  penalty  has  indeed  been  borne  by  Christ. 
His  resurrection  was  the  public  proof  that  every  claim  of  righteousness 
was  satisfied;  .  .  .  "but  this  did  not  include  the  consequences 
of  rejecting  the  atonement."* 

This  "sin"  of  endless  unbelief  is  a  constantly  recurring  idea  in  the 
discussion  of  this  question.  It  is  a  bowing  down  to  the  idol  of 
"free-will"  that  is  made  pre-eminent  over  the  soul  of  man,  and  over 
the  power  of  God.  It  is  an  assumption,  necessary  to  the  argument, 
but  unscriptural,  that  man  (one,  at  least)  will  reject,  they  say, 
"finally."  They  are  caught  in  their  own  word,  for  how  can  there 
be  a  finality  to  endlessness?  Which  again  shows  that  "endlessness" 
is  too  big  a  word  for  present  use.  If  the  reader  will  keep  the  phrase 
in  mind  he  will  see  the  pervading  presence  of  "the  personal  equation" 
in  all  human  utterances  and  the  constant  necessity  to  have  in  view 
but  one  aim,  that  is  the  truth.  If,  then,  the  human  bias  can  be 
estimated  for  what  it  is  worth,  the  false  rejected  and  the  true  seized 
upon,  we  will  be  tending  towards  the  Unity  of  the  Faith.  (But  if 
you  "bite  and  devour  one  another,"  what  will  be  the  result?) 

The  intellectual  habit  forms  the  straight-jacket  of  systematic 
theology  which  limits  God.  The  emotional  bias  leads  to  fanaticism, 
the  social  element  prepares  the  world  for  Antichrist,  the  sacramental 
lure  repeats  the  incident  of  the  golden  calf,  the  racial  prejudice  is 
responsible  for  the  blindness  of  Israel;  official  pride  makes  Doctors 
of  Divinity  take  the  seat  of  authority  that  belongs  to  Christ  the  Lord, 
and  especially,  let  us  repeat,  the  legal  bent  is  largely  responsible  for 
falsifications  in  translation  that  foist  the  idea  of  everlasting  punish- 
ment for  sin  upon  the  Word  of  God.  This  book  is  an  attempt 
to  point  out  the  truth  and   deliver  some   from   this  "legal  snare" 

'"Atonement." — The  theological  use  made  of  this  word  is  so  comprehensive  that 
its  Scripture  use  is  lost  to  us  without  a  special  study.  Anderson  uses  it  in  the 
Ashdodish  way,  which  has  overloaded  it.  In  Scripture  it  is  a  strictly  Old  Testament 
word.  Sin  was  "covered"  by  the  sacrifice  of  animals.  At  the  cross,  sin  was  "put 
away,"  not  "covered." 


24  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

(II  Tim.  2:  26), — "and  if  our  gospel  is  veiled  it  is  veiled  by  those 
things  {en  tots)  that  are  done  away,  by  which  {en  tois)  the  God  of 
this  eon  hath  blinded  the  minds  of  the  unbelieving,  that  the  light  of 
the  gospel  of  the  glory  of  Christ,  who  is  the  image  of  God,  should 
not  dawn  upon  them  (II  Cor.  4:  3,  4).  Now  that  which  was  "done 
away"  is  set  forth  in  the  third  chapter  as  the  law. 

The  doctrine  of  future  punishment  for  sin  is  based  exclusively  upon 
law,  and  no  one  can  hold  it  who  is  free  from  legal  bondage.  Yes, 
believer,  you  may  be  standing  in  the  liberty  of  grace  wherewith 
Christ  has  made  you  free,  but  you  are  preaching  law,  and  holding 
out  penalties  of  law  to  others.  Grace  then  is  all  right  for  you,  but 
it  would  hardly  do  to  trust  everybody  with  it;  they  might  abuse  it. 
Now  if  this  is  not  true  in  your  case  it  won't  hurt  you;  but  if  you 
squirm,  it  is  possible  that  a  sore  spot  has  been  touched;  look  to  it! 
"For  we  can  do  nothing  against  the  truth;"  even  the  wrath  of  man 
shall  praise  Him;  yes,  even  prejudice,  partizanship,  tradition,  faith- 
lessness, slowness,  self-aggrandizement,  etc.  "The  Teacher  sent 
from  God"  is  patiently  bringing  in  His  light  and  His  truth,  and 
all  these  elements  of  evil  are  passing  away;  until  it  shall  be  said, 
"They  are  no  more" 

Is  it  not  possible  that  the  teacher  of  systematic  theology  is  biased 
by  his  dignity,  his  authority,  his  "chair,"  his  salary,  his  Dictatorial 
Degree,  so  that  all  criticism  is  squelched  and  the  infallibility  of  the 
system  maintained? 

The  personal  equation  in  the  written  Word  is  the  Divine  "Living 
Word"  of  God,  Who  makes  its  statements  infallible.  Who  gives  us 
a  hope.  Who  tests  all  defects.  In  time  "the  crooked  shall  be  made 
straight."  Happily  we  can  trust  Divine  personality  without  a  question. 
But,  the  translator,  the  human  medium  who  writes  from  Moses  to 
Paul,  the  ancient  language  fixed,  the  modern  language  changing, — 
these  demand  patient  investigation.  There  is  need  of  mutual  for- 
bearance and  helpfulness,  and  yet  we  hear  such  words  as  this: 
"damnable  doctrine  from  the  pit  of  Hell,"  "condemned  in  Scripture 
from  Genesis  to  Revelation."  At  the  same  time  it  is  confessed  that 
there  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Old  Testament  one  word  on  endless 
future  punishment,  while  in  Isa.  45  we  read,  "Look  unto  Me  and 
be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth;  for  I  am  God  and  there  is 
none  else.  By  Myself  I  have  sworn,  the  word  is  gone  forth  from 
My  mouth   in   righteousness   and  shall   not   return,   that   unto   Me 


THE     PERSONAL    EQUATION  25 

every  knee  shall  bow,  every  tongue  shall  sv^^ear,"  or  as  Ferrar  Fenton 

renders  it, — 

"I  swear  by  Myself,  and  the  unchanging  truth  left  My  mouth, 
To  Me  all  knees  shall  bend,  and  all  tongues  shall  confess. 
To  the  Lord  belongs  righteousness  and  Power  and  Honor, 
Come  on,  and  bow  down,  all  you  haters  of  Him, — 
In    the    Lord     [Jehovah]     become    righteous,    and    glory    in 
Israel's  race." 

Here  follow  various  assertions.    Which  are  true?    Which  false? 

Samuel  Cox  says  of  Eon  and  Eonian,  "These  words,  so  far  from 
denoting  either  that  which  is  above  time,  or  that  which  will  outlast 
time,  are  saturated  through  and  through  with  the  thought  and  ele- 
ment of  time." 

Robert  Anderson  says  of  Eon  and  Eonian,  "The  scholarship  of 
Christendom  has  recognized  that  they  are  used  to  express  eternity 
in  the  fullest  sense." 

F.  W.  Farrar  says  "Hell"  is  used  for  Hades  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. In  no  case  does  Hades  mean  "hell."  Concerning  Sheol,  he 
says  that  it  "is  a  term  as  opposite  to  hell  as  light  to  darkness." 

W.  G.  T.  Shedd  says,  "That  Sheol  is  a  fearful  punitive  evil, 
mentioned  by  the  sacred  writers  to  deter  men  from  sin,  lies  upon  the 
face  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  any  interpretation  that  essentially 
modifies  this  must  therefore  be  erroneous." 

This  might  be  stereotyped,  "What  I  don't  know  and  can't  make 
out  is  mysterious  and  unknowable." 

Andrew  Jukes  met  this,  and  his  book,  "Restitution  of  All  Things," 
opens  with  an  illustrative  incident  from  the  Sunday-school.  The 
lesson  spoke  of  David  walking  on  the  roof  of  his  house,  when  a  boy 
whose  attention  was  fixed  on  the  steep  roofs  of  the  vicinity,  said: 
"But,  teacher,  how  could  David  walk  on  the  roof  of  a  house?" 
The  teacher,  calling  on  dogmatism  to  save  his  dignity,  gave  this  reply : 
"Don't  grumble  at  the  Bible,  boy!"  Whereon  another  teacher 
whispered,  "The  answer  to  the  difficulty  is,  'With  men  it  is  impossible, 
but  not  with  God,  for  with  God  all  things  are  possible.'  " 

"A  proof  that  Sheol  is  the  proper  name  for  Hell  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  the  fact  that  there  is  no  other  proper  name  for  it  in  the 
whole  volume, — for  'Tophet'  is  metaphor." — Shedd. 

Robert  Anderson:  "It  is  appointed  unto  men  once  to  die,  and 
after  death  [the*]  judgment."     "But  the  penalty  of  sin  must  follow 

*No  article  in  the  Greek  text. 


26  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

the  judgment;  and  not  precede  it.  The  death,  therefore,  which  is 
the  penalty  of  sin,  cannot  be  'natural  death.'  "  Here  is  the  lawyer 
and  the  logician;  his  preconceived  idea  of  judgment  is  that  of  a 
criminal  court.  But  the  sentence  upon  Adam  was  not  carried  out. 
Christ,  the  representative  Head,  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility, 
continued  Adam  in  life,  and  by  his  own  death  paid  all  penalty  for 
all  sin  of  the  race.  "Judgment"  to  come  cannot  in  that  case  be  a 
penalty  imposed  on  the  sinner.  Where  is  the  strabismus  here? 
Ignorance  marks  the  one  or  the  other.  He  that  hath  eyes  to  see, 
let  him  see. 

Here  are  some  other  things  that  Anderson  says: 

"Scripture  assumes  the  continued  existence  of  the  Adam  life; 
the  resurrection  is  a  proof  of  it."  This  is  bad.  It  is  only  in  Christ 
that  all  are  to  be  made  alive.  Resurrection  is  a  proof  of  Divine 
sonship  in  Rom.  i  :  1-4,  and  Luke  20:  36.     In  Adam  all  die. 

"Judgment  and  Hell  are  themselves  overwhelming  proof  of  it." 
But  such  a  judgment  and  hell  are  first  to  be  proved  themselves. 

"The  crowning  proof  of  it  is  redemption  achieved  at  a  cost  so 
priceless."  But  redemption  takes  us  all  out  of  Adam,  and  makes 
us  all  to  be  in  Christ. 

Gen.  11:3:  "And  they  had  brick  for  stone,  and  slime  had  they 
for  mortar." 

"The  day  is  past  when  God  could  plead  with  men  about  their 
sins.  The  controversy  now  is  not  about  a  broken  law,  but  a  rejected 
Christ."  "If  judgment,  therefore,  be  our  portion,  it  must  be  meas- 
ured by  God's  estimate  of  His  Son." 

"There  must  be  some  moral  necessity  why  evil,  once  existing, 
should  continue  to  exist.  Otherwise  the  presence  of  the  serpent  in 
Eden,  and  all  the  dismal  facts  of  human  historj'  would  be  inex- 
plicable."    But  really  now,  what  does  this  mean? 

"Damnable"  is  not  swearing,  but  it  is  strong  enough  to  relieve 
the  feelings,  and  many  are  tempted  to  use  it.  Mark  16:  16:  "He  that 
believeth  not  shall  be  damned,"  and  that  settles  it.  "God  has  con- 
cluded all  in  unbelief"  that  he  might  damn  them  all?  But  where 
are  the  saved  people  to  come  from  if  not  from  the  ranks  of  these 
damned?  This  word  is  corrected  in  the  Revision.  John  3:  36:  "He 
that  believeth  not  the  Son  shall  not  see  life;  but  the  wrath  of  God 
abideth  on  him."     Saul  of  Tarsus  says,  "He  acted  in  ignorance  and 


THE     PERSONAL    EQUATION  27 

unbelief,"  and  for  that  reason  did  the  wrath  of  God  abide  on  him? 
Was  there  no  hope  for  him? 

Luke  16:23-31  "shows  us  there  is  such  a  place  as  hell."  Why 
persist  in  this  when  the  Revised  Version  says  Hades  is  not  hell  ?  And 
why  use  a  parable  when  it  is  not  understood,  and  when  references  to  it 
wrest  the  Scripture  from  its  proper  dispensational  place? 

Mark  9:  43,  44,  As  Gehenna  is  not  hell,  why  make  it  mean  so? 
Gehenna  is  thus  perverted  and  made  to  mean  something  other  than 
what  the  Lord  said. 

Matt.  25 :  32-46 :  Why  should  one  who  knows  that  this  is  a 
judgment  of  living  nations  before  the  Millennial  reign  of  Christ, 
apply  it  to  postmillennial  conditions  where  the  dead  are  to  be  raised  ? 
The  "eonian  life"  of  that  judgment  is  the  eonian  life  promised  and 
looked  for  as  a  fulfilment  of  the  covenant,  and  neither  denies  nor 
affirms  anything  else.  The  "eonian  punishment"  is  the  discipline 
of  the  unbelieving  for  the  next  eon,  or  for  the  next  two  eons. 
Matt.  7:  13,  14:  The  "straight  gate"  into  that  eonian  life  is  through 
the  narrow  way  of  the  great  tribulation,  and  indeed  few  will  find  it. 
The  "broad  way"  is  the  way  of  submission  to  the  anti-Christian 
brand,  and  the  "many"  of  Israel  enter  it.  The  Millennium  fulfils 
covenant  conditions,  but  its  description  is  not  a  description  of  the 
consummation  of  the  eons.     (Rev.  20:  1-5.) 

"The  Lake  of  Fire."  The  definite  article  points  out  that  this  is 
known  to  the  readers  addressed.  Why  hastily  conclude  that  this 
is  eternal  hell  until  you  know  what  it  is  from  Scripture?  If  you  are 
going  to  take  away  from  the  meaning  of  the  words  of  this  book,  it  is 
as  bad  as  taking  away  the  words  themselves. 

It  is  perversion  of  Scripture  to  make  Hades,  Gehenna,  Tartarus,  and 
the  Lake  of  the  Divine  Fire, — all  to  mean  a  modern  English  "hell ;" 
to  make  kolasis,  "discipline,"  mean  penalty;  to  make  eonian  mean 
everlasting.  Why  retort  that  the  meaning  of  "hell"  is  taken  away? 
Hell  is  not  an  inspired  Bible  word;  it  is  ancient  and  modern  English, 
and  can  mean  whatever  English  usage  makes  it,  but  it  is  not  the 
equivalent  of  any  Hebrew  or  Greek  word  found  in  Scripture. 

"A  logical  hell  is  based  on  legal  retribution." 

The  Lord  did  not  deny  the  truth  of  Scripture  when  the  tempter 
quoted  it, — but  he  did  say,  it  is  written  again, — and  what  he  used 
was  in  the  proper  connection.  Was  the  Scripture  that  the  Devil 
brought  forward  true? — Yes.     Was  it  applicable  to  the  case? — No. 


28  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Satan  did  not  rightly  divide  the  word.  Where  one  Scripture  is  made 
to  contradict  another,  the  "father  of  lies"  has  a  son  born.  A  Scripture 
out  of  place  is  the  basis  of  error.  The  Law,  brought  into  this  dis- 
pensation, is  out  of  place. 

Yes!  Peter  says,  "There  shall  be  false  teachers  who  shall  privily 
bring  in  destructive  heresies,  denying  even  the  Master  that  bought 
them."  Now  how  is  a  belief  in  Col.  1:20  to  be  made  a  denial  of 
the  Lord,  and  a  damnable  heresy  from  the  pit  of  hell?  "It  was  the 
good  pleasure  [of  the  Father]  that  in  Him  should  all  fulness  dwell, 
and  through  Him  to  reconcile  the  Universe  unto  Himself,  having 
made  peace  through  the  blood  of  the  cross." 

In  the  Cross  of  Christ  is  the  Power  to  deliver,  the  Wisdom  to 
satisfy  the  mind;  it  meets  the  Jew  and  the  Greek;  the  heart  and  the 
head  of  the  old  humanity,  the  heart  seeking  signs  of  power,  the  head 
seeking  light.  Is  it  not  pitiful  that  sneers  should  meet  a  reference  to 
the  love  of  God  and  His  Grace?  Are  not  His  Wisdom,  Love  and 
Power  to  be  manifested  as  truly  as  His  Righteousness?  Why  does 
the  mind  seize  upon  retribution  for  the  sinners,  and  value  so  little  the 
establishment  of  righteousness,  first  by  his  penal  death  in  the  office 
of  first-born,  and  again  by  his  Millennial  reign? 

Hell,  a  logical  hell,  not  an  exaggerated  hell,  is  an  imaginary  place, 
which  might  have  been  a  reality  if  the  Savior  was  not  all-sufficient; 
but  to  introduce  endlessness  is  to  project  an  idea  of  time  or  space 
into  the  secret  of  God  which  has  no  such  condition. 

Taking  in  account,  then,  the  "personal  equation"  in  the  writings 
of  our  fellow-men,  we  must  correct  all  distortion,  and  be  on  our 
guard  against  imperfect  impressions.  We  also  should  recognize  the 
Divine  personal  authority  of  the  Word  of  God,  which  assures  us 
that  we  have  the  utterances  of  truth  without  error,  without  adultera- 
tion. We  may  also  note  the  human  writers,  but  here  its  influence  is 
seen  in  the  outward  form  of  literary  style,  which,  however,  conforms 
to  the  varied  subject. 

And  consider  as  truly  as  you  can  your  own  possibilities,  as  a 
hearer,  as  a  searcher  after  truth,  your  own  colored  glasses.  With 
the  Scriptures  considered  from  a  thousand  viewpoints,  what  is  the 
effect  of  3'our  own?  Many  stand  on  Mt.  Sinai.  Do  you?  Many 
have  their  gaze  on  Calvary's  cross  who  see  no  Olivet.  Many  are 
"looking  steadfastly  up  into  Heaven;"  some  are  waiting  for  another 
"Pentecost;"  some  in  Jerusalem,  in  Samaria,  in  Antioch  where  they 


THE     PERSONAL    EQUATION  29 

were  first  called  Christians,  some  in  the  churches  in  Asia,  some  in  "the 
church  which  is  His  Body  far  above  all  principality — the  fulness  of 
Him  that  filleth  all  in  all."  Those  who  understand  this  last  to  be 
the  only  proper  place  from  which  to  view  the  Universe  of  God  in 
all  its  relations,  for  the  believer  of  this  present  dispensation,  are 
waiting  to  be  "called  up  on  high"  {tes  ano  kleseos,  the  calling  above, 
and  this  "on  high"  is  located  in  Col.  3:1,  "seek  the  things  above, — 
ano, — where  the  Christ  is  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of  God").  Those 
who  are  waiting  to  be  "caught  up — in  the  air"  must  expect  to  see 
things  from  that  uncertain  place  only,  at  least  temporarily.  Those 
who  take  a  place  that  they  call  the  "Bride  of  Christ"  (though  that 
expression  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  Bible)  will  certainly  view  things 
from  that  feminine  point  of  view.  They  will  "keep  silent  in  the 
church  and  consult  their  husband  Christ  at  home,  they  will  not  teach, 
etc.,"  according  to  Scripture.  The  Christ,  Head  and  Body,  is  male, 
not  female,  and  in  elect  headship  will  teach,  etc.  All  this  is  to 
emphasize  the  importance  of  intelligent  assurance  as  to  one's  own 
proper  place  in  God's  Cosmos.  Judas  was  out  of  place  in  the 
Apostolate.  He  will  be  found  in  his  own  proper  niche  at  last.  His 
point  of  view  was  wrong. 

Assertion  is  no  part  of  argument  or  persuasion,  and  may  be  skipped 
unless  you  recognize  its  basis.  But  assertion  may  be  indulged  in  for 
the  sake  of  brevity  as  an  "aside"  to  those  with  knowledge  and 
sympathy  enough  to  endorse  the  sentiment.  Those  who  are  in  the 
truth  of  the  pra3'er  (Eph.  i:  17-23),  far  above  earthly  things,  need 
little  persuasion  to  give  attention  to  dispensational  truth.  If  you 
do  not  see  what  follows,  pass  it  by,  and  give  yourself  to  the  study  of 
Romans  until  "grace"  assumes  its  due  proportion,  then  take  up  the 
"exceeding — riches — of  grace."     (John  5:  46,  47.) 

"The  Son  of  His  Love"— "He  is  the  Head  of  the  Body,  the 
Church."  This  is  no  "bride,"  there  are  none  such  in  Heaven;  the 
"bride"  is  on  earth,  you  will  find  her  in  I  Corinthians,  which  says 
more  about  woman  than  any  other  book  in  the  Bible,  except  Luke 
and  Genesis,  even  as  you  will  hardly  find  a  feminine  word  in  the 
first  four  chapters  of  Ephesians.  The  "perfect  man"  is  found  in 
Ephesians;  the  "perfect  woman,"  in  I  Corinthians. 

The  "exceeding"  wonder  of  that  Heavenly  organism  is  indicated 
by  the  fact  that  every  believer  of  this  dispensation  was  "chosen"  in 
Christ  before  the  wreck  of  the  first  cosmos,  and  the  revelation  in  tK*e 


30  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

first  chapter  of  Ephesians,  that  the  same  Power  that  energized  in 
Christ  the  Head,  raising  Him  from  the  dead,  and  seating  Him  above, 
is  v/orking  with  the  same  energy  in  every  member  of  the  body  to 
perfect  that  organism  in  its  exalted  place.  Contrary  to  the  teaching 
of  all  religions,  that  body  is  the  only  part  of  humanity  that  has  a 
heavenly  destiny;  "the  earth  was  made  for  the  children  of  men." 
As,  in  the  exceeding  riches  of  His  Grace,  the  Head  of  this  Body  has 
all  the  credit,  the  members  look  neither  for  reward  nor  punishment. 
"For  ye  died  and  your  life  is  hid  with  Christ  in  God;  when  Christ, 
Who  is  your  life,  shall  be  manifested,  then  shall  ye  also  with  Him 
be  manifested,  in  glory."  Let  us  maintain  our  own  proper  viewpoint. 
"Far  from  the  madding  crowd's  ignoble  strife,"  yes,  and  in  a  place 
where  "to  his  own  Master  he  standeth  or  falleth."  As  to  the  reader, 
he  alone  is  responsible,  according  to  his  light,  to  abhor  that  which  is 
evil,  and  to  cleave  to  that  which  is  good.  "Take  heed  how  you  hear." 
The  Scripture  revelation  of  this  heavenly  body  is  preceded  by  the 
truth  of  individual  reconciliation  as  set  forth  in  Romans  5,  and 
H  Cor.  5.  In  Colossians  "Reconciliation"  is  developed  to  take  in  the 
Universe.  Preceding  these  teachings  on  the  reconciliation  of  enemies, 
uncovenanted,  we  have,  in  Rom.  3:  21-26,  the  Righteousness  of  God 
established  as  the  one  foundation  in  grace  for  this  further  grace. 
This  whole  teaching  is  "apart  from  law" — "being  justified  freely  by 
His  grace  through  the  redemption  that  is  in  Christ  Jesus."  The  Jews 
had  a  zeal  for  God,  but  seeking  it  in  outward  ritual  found  it  not. 
The  Gentile  went  astray  with  his  natural  religion.  They  had  no 
zeal;  they  followed  not  after  righteousness  as  the  Jews  did,  but  they 
attained  it  by  appropriating  the  gift  of  God  by  faith.  Righteousness 
carried  with  it  the  gift  of  life;  the  end  of  the  law  was  death.  "For 
we  thus  judge,  that  One  died  for  all,  therefore  all  died."  Passages 
like  this  lose  their  force  unless  the  Headship  of  Christ  is  kept  in  mind. 
"The  head  of  the  woman  is  the  man,  and  the  Head  of  the  man  is 
Christ,  and  the  Head  of  Christ  is  God."  The  head  unifies  the 
organization,  living  or  corporate,  with  which  it  is  identified,  and 
insures  order  and  harmonious  action.  See  the  "First-born"  in  Exodus 
and  the  first  fruits,  representative  and  sample  of  the  whole.  Col.  1:15 
calls  "the  Son  of  His  Love"  the  "First-born  of  all  creation."  This 
is  an  official  title;  it  is  not  confined  to  humanity,  but  takes  in  angels, 
demons,  and  a  groaning  creation,  animate  and  inanimate. 

When  the  First-born  of  all  creation  died,  the  whole  old  creation 


THE     PERSONAL    EQUATION  3 1 

died  in  its  representative  Head.  This  death  paid  the  full  penalty 
of  all  sin.  Sin  has  no  recognition  on  Resurrection  Ground  ;  it  is  a 
past  issue,  a  closed  incident,  "He  that  is  dead  is  freed  from  sin." 
"The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  Why  say  you  believe  this,  and  keep 
on  preaching  law  and  sin  ?  Since  the  resurrection  of  Christ  no  act  of 
sin  is  charged  to  the  account  of  any  human  being.  "Not  charging 
their  trespasses  unto  them"  (H  Cor.  5:  19).  You  are  told  to  preach 
this.     Did  you  ever  do  it? 

Col.  1:18,  "He  is  the  Head  of  the  Body,  Who  is  the  Beginning, 
the  First-born  from  the  dead."  Col.  2:  19,  "the  Head,  from  Whom 
all  the  body,  being  supplied  and  knit  together  through  the  joints  and 
bands,  increaseth  with  the  increase  of  God."  Eph.  i  :  22,  23,  Head 
over  all  things  {ta  panta,  the  all,  the  Universe)  to  that  Church  which 
is  His  body.  As  Messiah,  King  of  Israel,  He  is  their  Divine  repre- 
sentative Head  in  a  covenant  relation,  entered  into  at  Sinai.  From 
this  He  has  not  withdrawn,  and  in  this  He  has  and  will  prove  faithful. 
"I  am  Jehovah,  thy  God"  is  a  guarantee  that  "all  Israel  shall  be 
saved"  for  though  the  law  says,  "Cursed  is  every  one  who  continueth 
not  in  all  things  written  in  the  law  to  do  them,"  3'et  it  is  written 
again,  "Christ  hath  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law,  having 
become  a  curse  for  us."     (Gal.  i  :  10,  13.) 

"The  Word  became  flesh" — yes;  in  that  holy  thing  born  of  Mary, 
the  Head  of  the  Universe  became  a  part  even  of  its  matter.  Headship 
involves  oneness  and  responsibility.  In  the  headship  of  the  Word, 
the  Son  of  God,  the  Universe,  mineral,  vegetable,  animal  and  spirit- 
ual, is  one,  and  it  falls  and  rises  as  one  in  and  by  the  living  power 
of  its  Head. 

To  some  extent  we  can  discern  our  own  bias,  and  we  should  guard 
against  its  undue  influence.  We  little  know  our  deficiencies.  Because 
others  see  these  clearly  is  no  reason  why  that  which  is  profitable  for 
edifying  should  be  slighted.  We  will  arrive  at  "the  Unity  of  the 
Faith"  sooner  if  we  work  together.  William  Tyndale,  original 
translator  of  our  English  Bible,  in  his  preface  admonishes  those  who 
follow  him  to  correct  errors  of  translation  when  discovered.  Now 
nearly  four  centuries  after  he  was  strangled  and  burned  by  Church 
and  State  for  this  most  valuable  service,  there  remain  many  things 
to  be  corrected.  Revision,  and  re-revision,  and  reverent  scholarship 
but  emphasize  the  fact  that  the  visible  religious  organization  is  the 
enemy  of  vital  truth.  From  the  golden  calf  at  Sinai  to  the  generation 
3 


32  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

that  crucified  the  Living  Truth,  they  were  characterized  by  Stephen 
as  "always  resisting  the  Holy  Spirit ;"  and  from  Diotrephes  to  the 
creed-confined  sects  of  this  evening  of  the  sixth  Adamic  Millennium, 
the  indictment  holds.  Looking  forward,  Paul  says,  "After  my 
departing — from  among  yourselves  shall  men  arise,  speaking  perverse 
things."  The  first  faint  glimpse  of  Church  history  after  Bible  times, 
after  a  blank  of  fifty  years,  shows  it,  as  the  so-called  "Teaching  of 
the  Twelve"  evidences.  The  blood  of  martyrs  will  continue  to  be 
shed,  murdered  by  a  body  that  boasts  the  banner  of  the  cross.  Our 
Lord  said  concerning  the  Scriptures,  "These  are  they  which  bear 
witness  of  Me."  He  was  speaking  to  the  great  Bible  students  to  whom 
He  had  said,  "Ye  have  not  the  Word  of  the  Father  abiding  in  you." 
There  were  never  more  copies  of  the  Bible  in  the  world  than  in  this 
year  1920  A.  D. ;  but  without  the  obedience  of  faith,  now  as  then. 

If  we  are  building  a  doctrine  or  a  creed  that  is  not  vitally  con- 
nected with  Christ  risen,  Christ  with  all  power  dominating  the  new 
Creation,  we  will  find  ourselves  building  legally,  naturally,  and  not 
spiritually ;  bringing  in  the  philosophy  of  natural  religion  gone  astray, 
which  is  foolishness  with  God.  Gospel  that  is  the  wisdom  of  God 
and  the  power  of  God  is  marked  by  grace  and  sufficiency  in  every 
particular.  Note  in  the  writings  advocating  endless  punishment  for 
sin  that  they  appeal  to  law,  and  a  natural  sense  of  justice,  as  if  there 
were  no  such  thing  as  the  righteousness  of  God,  so  established  that 
He  might  be  just  while  justifying  the  sinner  and  the  ungodly.  Yes, 
"them  that  believe?"  But  where  is  belief  asked  before  the  thing  to 
be  believed  is  assured,  is  Divinely  wrought  out,  and  offered  as  a  gift? 
You  say,  "Some  will  not  believe."  This  is  your  assertion  only. 
Because  you  do  not  see  a  man  believe  before  he  dies,  you  take  upon 
yourself  to  say  he  never  will,  but  if  this  has  any  basis,  it  is  found 
in  Platonian,  if  not  Plutonian,  philosophy,  not  in  the  Word  of  God. 
Bring  these  things  to  the  test  of  the  Love  of  God,  the  grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  and  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit.  Truth 
must  accord  with  "The  Truth"  and  the  Spirit  will  confirm  it,  bearing 
witness  with  our  spirits.  One  D.  D.  actually  says  that  he  "wishes 
that  endless  punishment  for  sin  were  not  true;  God  wishes  it,  too;" 
quoting  H  Peter  3 :  9,  "not  wishing  that  any  should  perish."  Is  there 
to  be  an  endless  truth  that  will  endlessly  disappoint  God?  "Adam! 
Where  art  thou?"  Job!  Did  you  "find  Him?"  "Saul!  Saul!  Why 
persecutest  thou  Me?" 


THE     PERSONAL     EQUATION  33 

These  distinctions  are  very  important,  —  eons,  dispensations, 
times  and  seasons,  places  and  peoples,  —  as  we  search  the  Scripture 
for  indications  of  future  conditions,  prophetic  and  eschatological. 
For  instance: 

Gal.  1 :  4,  "this  present  evil  eon."  Read  the  context  and  see  how 
necessary  it  is  to  know  the  character  of  present  evil.  When  did  this 
eon  begin  and  what  is  said  of  its  end? 

Mark  10:30,  "in  the  eon  to  come,  eonian  life."  (Am.  Rev.  V. 
margin,  Greek,  age.) 

Heb.  6:5,  "The  powers  of  the  eon  to  come."  What  are  they? 
Is  this  eon  to  come  to  be  a  good  one,  or  another  evil  one  ?  How  long 
will  it  be?  The  reign  of  Messiah  will  be  for  one  thousand  years. 
(Rev.  20:  4-6.)  The  eon  before  this  was  1,656  years;  the  probable 
length  of  the  present  will  be  4,344  years.  The  lengths  of  the  first 
and  fifth  are  not  so  definite. 


CHAPTER  III 
THINGS  THAT  DIFFER 

When  we  came  into  this  world  we  had  a  little  bod}',  a  little 
mind,  and  a  soul.  We  had  a  first  sensation  and  a  first  thought. 
The  first  and  all  subsequent  thoughts  were  according  to  a  principle 
easily  recognized,  but  often  violated ;  namely,  the  distinction  of  things 
that  differ.  From  the  warm  womb  of  a  mother  into  the  cold  world 
was  a  difference  that  brought  a  cry  and  then  a  comfort;  things  were 
'rough  and  smooth,  hard  and  soft,  there  was  hunger  and  satiety. 
In  some  things  the  distinction  was  clear,  in  other  things  vague,  but 
where  we  made  no  distinction  there  we  had  no  thought. 

Elaborate  this  as  we  may,  it  prevails  as  the  law  of  our  mind  in 
every  field  of  knowledge,  human  and  Divine.  It  is  an  axiom  so 
important  that  it  is  recorded  in  Paul's  letter  to  the  Philippians 
(i:g,  lo).  He  prays,  "that  your  love  may  abound  yet  more  and 
more  in  all  knowledge  and  in  all  discernment,  so  that  you  may  dis- 
tinguish things  that  differ," — "so  that  you  may  be  clear  and  certain 
in  the  Day  of  Christ," — "clearsighted  (eilikrineis) ,  and  sure-footed 
(aproskopoi)  into  the  day  of  Christ." 

Take  a  book  like  Dean  Plumptre's  "Spirits  in  Prison,"  where 
many  writers  on  "the  hereafter"  are  quoted,  and  you  wonder  if  there 
k  an  exit  from  the  maze  of  angles  and  blind  alleys.  The  Dean  him- 
self looks  this  way  and  that  way.  He  is  swayed  by  his  intellect,  his 
feelings,  His  Church,  and  his  responsibilities,  his  uncertain  conclusion 
being,  "Eternal  punishment  is  a  half-truth,  and  universal  restoration 
is  a  half-truth."  Nevertheless  his  book  is  called  "epoch  making." 
He  protested  against  the  grossest  obscenities  of  the  eternalists.  Farrar, 
more  brilliant  perhaps,  also  condemns  exaggerations,  but  he  sees  what 
he  calls  "antinomies"  in  Scripture.  At  the  most,  all  he  could  claim 
to  hold  was  a  "hope."  His  weak  point  was  in  charging  Scripture 
with  contradictions,  when  the  trouble  was  he  had  not  made  the 
necessary  distinctions  between  things  that  differ. 

"Rightly  dividing  the  word  of  Truth"  is  a  principle  much  pro- 
fessed, and  more  neglected,  even  by  the  professors;  nevertheless  it  is 
one  that  must  be  acted  upon  if  we  are  to  get  away  from  these 
Ashdodish  words  and  ambiguous  ideas.    (II  Tim.  2:  15.)   John  1:17: 

34 


THINGS    THAT    DIFFER  35 

'"For  the  law  was  given  through  Moses,  the  grace  and  the  truth  came 
through  Jesus  Christ."  "The  most  profound  theological  thinker" 
and  the  neophyte,  alike,  consent  to  this,  but  their  writings  bear  evi- 
dence that  they  profess  gospel  and  preach  law.  When  they  write  on 
future  punishment  they  give  the  "beggarly  elements"  the  supremacy. 
It  certainly  causes  most  profound  thought  to  bring  together  these 
that  God  has  put  asunder,  but  they  do  not  hesitate  in  their  church 
field  to  yoke  the  ox  and  the  ass  together,  to  sow  divers  seeds  in  one 
field,  and  to  wear  garments  of  divers  sorts,  wool  and  linen  together. 
This  latter  perhaps  when  they  seat  themselves  on  Moses'  seat,  and 
.  call  themselves  evangelists.     This  is  serving  God  and  mammon. 

Then  the  progressive  stages  of  revelation  are  shuffled  from  their 
designed  sequence.  Notice  the  four  groups  of  Paul's  subscribed 
epistles,  and  have  regard  to  the  chronological  and  dispensational  order, 
and  to  the  distinct  character  of  each  group: 

I.  About  A.  D.  52  Thessalonians,  while  the  earthly  Millennial 
glory  was  the  only  hope  revealed ;  no  Scripture  indicating  that  men 
should  have  a  heavenly  place, 

II.  About  A.  D.  57  Romans,  Corinthians,  Galatians,  the  noble 
letters  struck  out  in  the  very  heat  of  the  conflict,  when  the  legalists 
of  the  day  fought  Paul's  gospel  of  grace  most  bitterly. 

III.  About  A.  D.  62  Ephesians,  Philippians,  Colossians,  with 
Paul  in  chains,  the  legalists  exultant  over  the  superficial  aspect  of 
Law  triumphant,  and  Grace  apparently  dethroned.  (Grace  reigns, 
Rom.  5:  21.)  Here  comes  in  the  heavenly  body  of  Christ,  the  secret 
of  God,  in  no  way  revealed  until  this,  its  ordained  season. 

IV.  About  A.  D.  67  Timothy  and  Titus,  the  visible  church 
rejecting  Truth,  and  starting  on  the  dov.n  grade.  Paul  writes  not 
to  Church,  nor  even  to  Saints  generally,  but  to  the  few  faithful 
workers  who  were  in  the  spiritual  fellowship  of  the  whole  truth. 
To  these,  left  in  the  midst  of  carnalized  institutions  to  represent  the 
fulness  of  revealed  truth,  he  leaves  timely  instructions.  They  had 
to  minister  to  God's  chosen  ones  as  Jeremiah  did  of  old  to  the  re- 
bellious remnant  that  went  down  to  Egypt  for  refuge.  Nebuchad- 
nezzar found  them  there  and  made  the  captivity  of  Judah  complete. 
He  pitched  his  royal  tent  on  the  very  pavement  that  the  prophet 
had  indicated.  So  Paul's  warning  to  these  isolated  men  of  God 
was,  "In  the  last  days,  perilous  times,"  etc.     (II  Tim.  3:  i.) 

Natural  Religion,  influenced  by  Platonic  philosophy,  is  responsible 


36  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

for  the  idea  of  sempiternal  penalty  for  sin  and  evil.  This  false 
position  is  bolstered  up  by  three  serious  misapprehensions  of  Truth. 
A  chapter  will  be  given  to  each.  ( i )  The  use  of  endless  for  eonian 
is  superficial  and  false.  (2)  A  future  judgment  for  sins  that  denies 
the  sufficiency  of  Christ,  and  of  His  gospel  that  proclaims  an  end  of 
sin  at  the  cross.  (3)  The  ascription  of  unchangeability  to  free  will 
as  if  it  were  the  whole  of  man ;  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  man  after 
man  from  Abel  to  Saul  of  Tarsus  has  been  Divinely  influenced  to 
say,  "Thy  will  be  done." 

These  three  points,  scripturally  established,  would  decide  the 
question.  The  many  related  ideas  would  harmonize.  A  thorough 
study,  taking  the  652  times  that  eon  and  olam  occur,  should  determine 
by  this  complete  usage  whether  eons  are  limited  periods,  or  one  only 
indefinite  sempiternity.  And  if  Law  is  to  have  the  pre-eminence, 
then  sin's  punishment  is  future,  but  if  "Grace  reigns  through  right- 
eousness," then  sin  has  not  been  charged  since  Christ's  resurrection. 
And  in  the  case  of  God's  will  and  man's  will,  one  can  change  the 
other,  if  sufficient  motive  is  brought  to  bear.  This  conflict  has  come 
to  many  a  happy  issue  in  the  past  without  dishonor  done  to,  or 
suffered  by,  either  party.      (Jer.  18:  i-io.) 

No, — these  thoughts  are  not  our  thoughts,  nor  these  ways  our 
ways.  Dare  we  proceed  without  pronouncing  another  "Amen"  to 
the  supreme  prayer  of  the  Bible?  Eph.  3:  14,  Paul  leads:  "For  this 
cause  I  bow  my  knees  unto  The  Father  from  whom  every  family 
in  heaven  and  on  earth  is  named,  that  He  would  grant  you,  according 
to  the  riches  of  His  glory,  that  you  may  be  strengthened  with  power 
through  His  Spirit  in  your  inward  man ;  that  Christ  may  dwell  in 
your  hearts  through  faith;  to  the  end  that  ye,  being  rooted  and 
grounded  in  Love,  may  be  strong  to  apprehend  with  all  saints  what 
is  the  breadth  of  it,  and  the  length  of  it,  and  the  height  of  it,  and  the 
depth  of  it,  and  to  know  that  Love  of  Christ  which  passeth  knowledge, 
that  ye  may  be  filled  into  all  the  fulness  of  God.  Now,  unto  Him 
that  is  able  to  do  exceeding  abundantly  above  all  that  we  ask  or 
think,  according  to  the  power  that  worketh  in  us,  unto  Him  the 
glory  in  the  church  and  in  Christ  Jesus  unto  all  the  generations  of 
the  eon  of  the  eons."    Amen! 

Why  should  the  revisers  persist  in  keeping  "forever  and  ever"  in 
the  text  here,  when  they  say  in  the  margin  that  the  Greek  is  "the  age 


THINGS    THAT    DIFFER  37 

of  the  ages?"  Why  blot  out  the  definite  article  and  add  the  copu- 
lative?    Well!     Thanks  for  the  margin  anyway! 

This  prayer,  intelligently  offered,  makes  a  belief  in  endless  future 
punishment  impossible.     The  discord  is  too  manifest. 

"My  Lord  and  my  God,"  says  Thomas.  Who  is  your  God,  as 
revealed  by  the  Son,  and  to  w^hom  the  Holy  Spirit  bears  w^itness — 
the  God  who  in  endless  felicity  unalloyed  looks  down  upon  the  endless 
misery  of  creatures  that  once  He  loved  and  redeemed?  or  the  God 
who  sends  back  to  nothing  this  same  mass  of  beings  bearing  his  image?* 
or  the  God  all  whose  pleasure  is  accomplished  by  His  Living  Word 
sent  forth,  returning  victorious  as  Head  of  the  New  Creation  in 
which  God  is  pleased  to  be  all  in  all?  "For  out  of  [ek]  Him,  and 
through  [dia]  Him,  and  unto  [eis]  Him,  [are]  all  things"  (ta  panta, 
the  all).  Out  from  God  came  the  Head  of  the  Universe,  and 
through  the  Head,  the  Universe  is  reconciled.  Is  there  something 
somewhere  outside  this  universe,  and  apart  from  the  Head?  Where 
is  it?  What  is  it?  Shall  we  descend  into  Hades?  but  Hades  will 
be  gone!  Is  there  a  place  where  God  is  not?  God  is  not  in  all  their 
thoughts,  but  all  their  evil  thoughts  perish!  and  echo  answers  not. 

Have  you  recognized  the  following  important  Bible  distinctions? 

(i)  "Heaven  and  earth"  (Gen.  i:i),  they  differ? — ^Yes,  of 
course.  Why  speak  of  a  thing  so  obvious? — Because,  though  obvious, 
it  is  so  often  ignored  in  the  common  slang  of  Christendom.  Where 
is  the  consistency  of  calling  the  heavenly  masculine  body  a  bride? 
There  are  no  brides  in  heaven  except  in  the  impassioned  language  of 
earthly  love-making,  and  you  know  what  that  is  worth.  Are  not 
golden  streets,  and  foundations,  and  walls,  and  gates,  and  trees,  and 
rivers,  all  in  heaven  according  to  the  Ashdodish  songs?  "The  earth 
was  given  to  the  children  of  men."  (Ps.  115:  16.)  (2)  Soul  and 
spirit,  Heb.  4:  12  intimates  that  men  are  prone  to  make  the  wish  the 
father  of  the  thought,  and  that  it  takes  the  keen  edge  of  God's  Word 
to  separate  them.  (3)  Flesh  and  spirit,  old  man,  new  man,  inner 
man,  outward  man.  (4)  In  Adam,  in  Christ.  The  vdde- awake 
believer  is  continually  called  to  note  these  differences.  What  is  a 
dictionary  but  a  distinguishing  of  words  that  differ  in  meaning? 
The  more  definitions  it  gives  the  more  valuable.     The  man  who 

*As  only   those  who   think  they  came    from  nothing  can  consistently   believe. 
"A  moment's  Halt — a  momentary  taste 
Of  Being  from  the  Well  amid  the  waste — 
And   Lot — the   phantom   caravan   has   reach'd 
The  Nothing  it  set  out  from — Oh,  make  haste  1" — Omar. 


38  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

professed  to  read  it  through  said  he  got  some  valuable  ideas  out  of  it, 
but  there  seemed  to  be  little  sequence  of  thought.  Eschatology  would 
be  much  clearer  if  the  Bible  eons,  dispensations,  times,  and  seasons 
were  each  considered  in  proper  connection  only.  Christendom,  misled 
by  inconsistent  renderings  of  "eon,"  is  lost  in  the  contemplation  of 
countless  eternities  of  everlastingness  "rolling  on"  or  "tumbling  upon 
each  other."  Scripture  reveals  a  definite  course  of  five  eons  from 
"the  Beginning  to  the  End."  Where  are  the  Berean  searchers  who 
will  look  this  up  and  report  on  it.  One  profound  theologian  says 
there  are  but  two  ages;  the  present  is  one,  and  eternity  is  the  other. 
If  you  do  not  know,  you  cannot  rightly  divide  the  Scriptures. 
Gal.  I  :  4,  Christ  died  for  our  sins  that  He  might  deliver  us  from  this 
present  evil  eon.  Surely  this  is  important.  Do  you  know  when 
"this  present  evil  eon"  began?     Has  it  come  to  an  end  yet? 

Mark  lo:  30,  "in  the  eon  to  come,  eonian  life."  How  does  this 
affect  youf     But  see  Chapter  IV. 

Dispensations.  These  have  been  set  forth  by  many,  and  diagrams 
abound.  There  is,  however,  much  more  to  be  learned.  The  boundaries 
of  this  present  dispensation  are  in  dispute,  for  the  "landmark"  has 
been  removed  and  we  have  trespassed  upon  the  inheritance  of  the 
Chosen  People. 

Eph.  3:9.  Be  sure  to  get  this  right.  "The  dispensation  of  the 
secret  which  from  the  eons  hath  been  hid  in  God."  Col.  i :  24-27, 
"now  [A.  D.  62]  manifested."  Yet  the  heavenly  and  earthly  dis- 
pensations are  so  mixed  that  many  who  read  this  paragraph  may  hold 
that  this  dispensation  began  at  Pentecost.  A  "prophetic  conference" 
speaker  had  a  chart  which  begins  this  age  at  Pentecost.  The  second 
chapter  of  Acts  records  the  fulfilment  of  a  prophecy  to  a  people  whose 
destiny  never  was  said  to  be  Heaven.  On  the  contrary  we  read  that 
Abraham  was  "heir  of  the  world."  And  this  was  and  is  the  hope  of 
the  chosen  people,  now  after  34  centuries  unfulfilled,  but  as  sure  as 
the  promise  of  God.  The  history  of  this  earthly  nation  was  abruptly 
ended  in  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Acts,  to  be  resumed  in  the  now 
near  future.  Meantime  there  is  no  "Israel,"  and  the  promises  and 
prophecies  are  all  in  abeyance.  Forty  years  was  Jehovah  dealing  with 
that  generation  to  whom  their  Savior  was  born,  and  which  crucified 
Him,  from  John  the  Baptist  to  the  Jewish  wars  which  ended  in 
their  dispersion.  During  this  40  years  their  kingdom  was  "at  hand," 
its  manifestation   depending  upon   national   repentance.     As  it  was 


THINGS    THAT    DIFFER  39 

"at  hand"  to  that  nation  only,  it  ceased  to  be  at  hand  when  the 
nation  ceased  to  be.  It  could  not  be  at  hand  to  the  present  church, 
which  is  His  "Body."  As  soon  as  the  nation  is  revived,  the  kingdom 
will  again  be  "at  hand."  Thus  this  Gospel  of  the  Kingdom  was 
pertinent  until  about  A.  D.  66  and  will  probably  be  pertinent  for 
the  generation  preceding  the  Sabbatic  Millennium,  but  it  is  not  so  now. 
Preaching  that  Kingdom  now  is  not  distinguishing  things  that  differ. 

Gospels  differ  and  their  difference  should  be  distinguished.  They 
differ  so  much  that  the  Apostle  to  the  Jew  could  not  work  with  the 
Apostle  to  the  Gentiles.  This  present  heavenly  dispensation  has  had 
one  common  humanity  as  its  field,  with  its  Gospel  of  Glory  since  the 
action  of  Paul  in  Acts  28.  Jews  and  Gentiles  were  differentiated 
before  this  dispensation  and  they  will  be  after,  but  "humanity"  is 
one  to-day. 

If  this  dispensation  had  been  revealed  before  Israel's  last  rejection 
of  their  Gospel,  it  would  have  given  them  some  excuse  for  that 
rejection.  Such  is  the  importance  of  this  "landmark"  which  is  the 
definite  end  of  the  Pentecostal  "generation,"  and  the  initiation  of 
the  Gospel  of  THE  secret,  the  gathering  out  of  a  representative 
Body  (not  the  "people"  of  Acts  15:  14). 

There  is  a  first  resurrection  and  there  is  a  second  resurrection; 
yes,  you  say.  But  Matt.  25:31-46  is  used  as  the  homiletic  text  for 
both  by  profound  theologians.  This  is  not  rightly  dividing  the  truth. 
In  this  same  connection.  Scriptures  that  reveal  judgment  should  not 
all  be  lumped  together  and  applied  to  "one  final  general  judgment." 
Strictly  reading.  Scripture  reveals  no  such  a  concentration. 

"Hell"  as  found  in  our  English  Bible  denies  the  distinction  of 
the  original  Hades,  Gehenna,  Tartarus,  and  the  Lake  of  the  Divine 
Fire,  each  of  which  has  its  own  definite  signification;  they  are  not 
used  promiscuously  by  Bible  writers.  "An  old  contention,"  you  say; 
"yes,  as  old  as  the  Bible,  and  if  you  do  not  care  for  this  Scripture 
distinction,  you  may  remain  in  the  infant  class  until  your  spirit  is 
ready  to  receive  advanced  truth.  Do  not  take  up  such  subjects  as 
these  unless  you  have  a  willingness  to  be  taught  of  God,  and  from 
God's  text-book.  The  future  is  no  topic  for  argument  or  assertion. 
Faith  can  appropriate  what  is  revealed ;  beyond  Revelation  we  are  lost. 

Gospels  of  God,  of  the  Kingdom,  of  grace,  of  glory  earthly  and 
heavenly.  What  is  the  "everlasting  gospel"  so-called  in  Rev.  14:9? 
Who  preaches  it?     It  is  "eonian."     What  eon?     Where  is  it  pro- 


40  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

claimed?  What  is  its  special  good  news?  A  simple  attentive  reading 
places  this  "gospel,"  as  to  time,  in  the  last  three  and  a  half  years 
of  this  present  evil  eon.  This  period  is  marked  out  as  "the  day  of 
wrath."  Rev.  ii:  15,  18,  "the  seventh  angel  sounded — Thy  Wrath 
is  come"  (Rev.  6:17).  Rev.  15:1,  "The  last  seven  plagues;  in 
which  the  wrath  of  God  will  be  completed."  This  eliminates  the 
idea  that  wrath  will  be  any  element  in  the  action  of  Him  who  will 
sit  on  the  Great  White  Throne.  In  the  "little  Apocalypse"  this 
wrath  is  called  God's  strange  work, — His  strange  act.  Isa.  28:21, 
zurj  strange  work;  see  Lev.  10:1,  strange  fire;  Isa.  28:21,  nochri, 
strange  (act);  Ex.  2:22,  strange  land,  foreign;  thus  this  wrath  of 
God  is  foreign  to  His  nature.  It  is  exercised  against  darkness  and 
danger  to  his  loved  ones,  and  all  are  His  loved  ones;  dare  this  be 
denied?  Now  in  this  time  of  wrath,  the  smoke  fills  the  Holy  of 
Holies,  the  Mercy  Seat  is  inaccessible;  the  only  note  of  hope  is  "Fear 
God,"  "endure  for  a  short  period  and  you  will  enter  the  Sabbatic 
Millennium.  A  profound  theologian, —  (  ?)  no,  not  this  time, — a 
D-ictatorial  D-ean  cites  Rev.  14:9  to  show  that  Bible  "usage"  deter- 
mines the  meaning  of  eonian  to  be  "absolutely  endless,"  etc.  "Fear 
God,"  the  burden  of  this  "gospel,"  is  the  conclusion  of  natural 
religion.  Read  Eph.  2:8,  9,  and  Rev.  14:9,  alternately  until  you 
see  the  difference.  Every  correct  distinction  that  you  make  adds  so 
much  to  your  knowledge.  This  may  be  speaking  after  the  manner 
of  men,  but  what  can  one  do?  "Speak  the  truth  in  Love."  Is  there 
no  love  in  the  discipline  of  education.  "Love  in  the  Truth."  But 
we  have  to  get  into  the  truth  to  do  that. 

Illustrations  are  sometimes  made  up  to  suit,  and  are  not  always 
to  be  vouched  for  as  solid  facts.  "  'Lo!  I  come' — Praise  the  Lord," 
said  the  exhorter.  "If  He  had  said,  'High  I  come,'  He  would  have 
passed  me  by."  This  is  acceptable  like  the  collection,  "according  to 
what  a  man  hath."  But  when  an  educated  Doctor  of  Divinity  and 
Dean  perpetrates  the  following,  criticizing  another,  it  shows  the 
necessity  of  publishing  this  chapter.  "When  we  learned  that  he 
accepted  the  position  that  the  Church  was  not  the  bride  of  Christ, 
and  that  a  new  dispensation  began  in  the  closing  verses  of  the  twenty- 
eighth  chapter  of  Acts,  we  began  to  tremble  for  him."  "Of  course" 
— we  ought  to  tremble  for  each  other ;  Paul  was  with  the  Corinthians 
in  fear  and  trembling,  but  let  us  tremble  also  for  one  who  sees  no 
distinction  between  the  "body"  of  the  Husband  of  which  Christ  is 


THINGS    THAT    DIFFER  4I 

"Head,"  and  a  bride  who  has  a  complete  body  of  her  own,  the  mystic 
union  of  husband  and  wife  manifesting  two  bodies  in  one  spirit. 
The  "perfect  man"  is  the  outcome  of  the  present,  and  like  Adam  is 
perfected  at  the  end  of  the  sixth  day.  A  perfect  woman  will  be  built 
as  Eve  was  on  the  seventh  day.  The  bishop  trembles  on  account  of 
this  teaching  because  he  does  not  see  it.  Be  not  disturbed;  every 
searcher  must  see  spiritual  distinctions  for  himself;  they  are  discernible 
to  the  eye  of  obedient  faith  alone.  The  correctness  of  these  distinc- 
tions, and  the  number  of  them,  is  the  measure  of  spirituality.  The 
possession  of  pentecostal  gifts  was  not  the  measure  of  spirituality  in 
the  Corinthian  church,  much  less  now  when  gifts  have  ceased.  Yes, 
the  "gift"  gave  way  to  a  Personality,  when  that  blind  generation  of 
Israel  neglected  its  40-year  opportunity.  Then  God  sprang  his 
glorious  "secret"  upon  believers;  the  field  was  clear;  covenant  obliga- 
tions could  be  postponed  in  the  face  of  national  impenitence.  Forty 
years  the  Messiah  had  waited  for  Israel's  repentance;  then  the  last 
vestige  of  their  nationality  disappeared ;  the  people  were  dispersed 
to  be  sifted  through  the  nations.  It  was  not  until  Israel  was  thus 
formally  set  aside  that  the  first  public  revelation  was  written  which 
indicated  that  any  man  was  to  have  a  heavenly  destiny.  Then,  at 
Rome,  Paul  the  prisoner  penned  it.  What  constitutes  a  change  of 
dispensation  if  this  formal  turning  from  the  Jewish  people  and  their 
covenanted  kingdom  on  earth  to  that  Oneness  with  Christ  far  above 
all  heavens,  symbolized  by  the  Head  and  Body,  is  not  one?  But  the 
Dean  of  a  Million-Dollar  Bible  Institute  calls  this  "the  leaven  of 
false  doctrine."  The  same  pamphlet  that  backbites  a  fellow  Bible 
worker  gives  an  Institute  creed,  specifically  mentioning  fourteen 
articles  crudely  expressed,  seven  of  which  violate  the  rule  of  Phil,  i :  9, 
"to  distinguish  things  that  differ."  (This  is  confusion  at  home, 
which  calls  for  remedy  before  condemning  others.)  Scripture  is 
harmonious  when  every  word  occupies  its  own  place.  Every  disloca- 
tion produces  discord.  Contradictions  are  apparent  only,  not  real. 
Five  lines  of  the  musical  staff  may  be  used  for  24  different  keys, 
even  if  2  keys  do  have  some  notes  in  common;  a  strict  observance 
of  the  signature  is  necessary.  So  it  is  necessary  to  observe  the  dis- 
pensational  signature.  Or  again,  your  1919  calendar  would  cause 
confusion  if  it  were  used  for  1920. 

Jukes   gives  the   following  apparent   contradictory  list   of   texts. 
Luke  12: 32,    a   little   flock;    Matt.  7:14,   strait   gate,    few   enter; 


42  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Luke  13:  24,  many  seek  but  do  not  enter;  John  3:  36,  wrath  abideth 
on  unbelievers;  Matt.  25 :  46,  Eonian  discipline;  25:41,  fire  pre- 
pared for  the  Devil ;  John  5  :  29,  judgment  resurrection ;  Matt.  23  :  33, 
judgment  of  the  Gehenna;  II  Cor.  2:15,  some  perish;  Phil.  3:19, 
their  end  destruction;  Heb.  10:  26,  27,  adversaries  devoured; 
Heb.  10:  31,  a  fearful  thing  to  fall  into  the  hands  of  the  Living  God; 
12:  29,  God  a  consuming  fire;  I  Peter  4:  17,  18,  judgment  begins  at 
the  house  of  God,  where  will  the  sinner  and  ungodly  appear?; 
II  Peter  2:  1,3,  6,  12,  shall  utterly  perish;  Rev.  21 :  8,  the  fearful — 
and  liars  in  the  Lake  that  burneth  with  the  Divine  Fire;  Rev.  14:9, 
tormented  for  the  eons  of  the  eons.  Each  of  the  above  is  true  in  its 
own  place,  and  false  if  misapplied.  They  contradict  the  following 
unless  rightly  apportioned  :  Gen.  12:3,  22 :  18,  Acts  3  :  25,  Gal.  3  :  8, 
All  families  of  the  earth  blessed;  Acts  3:  21,  restitution  of  all  things; 
Eph.  1 :  9,  10,  All  things  brought  under  the  Headship  of  Christ; 
Col.  1 :  20,  All  things  reconciled  to  God;  Eph.  2:3,  those  now  saved 
were  once  children  of  wrath  even  as  others;  Rom.  8:  19-23,  Creation 
to  be  delivered;  II  Cor.  5:19,  Sin  not  charged  now;  Heb.  2:14, 
destroy  him  that  had  the  power  of  death;  Rom.  5  :  12-21,  Grace  reigns; 
I  Cor.  15:22,  All  made  alive;  15:28,  All  subject  to  Christ — God 
all  in  all;  Eph.  1:3-10,  blessed — so  that  He  might  gather  together 
in  one;  Phil.  2:  10,  11,  every  knee  bows  in  the  name  of  Savior; 
John  14:  13,  14,  If  ye  ask  anything  in  My  Name,  I  will  do  it; 
Rom.  14:9,  Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  the  living;  Luke  20:  38,  not 
a  God  of  the  dead,  but  of  the  living;  I  Tim.  4:  10,  Savior  of  all  men; 
2:  1-6,  ransom  for  all;  Rom.  11:32,  All  unbelievers,  that  He  might 
have  mercy  upon  all;  I  John  4:  14,  Savior  of  the  world;  I  John  2:  2, 
propitiation  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world ;  John  i :  29,  taketh  away 
the  sin  of  the  world ;  I  John  3 :  8,  destroy  the  works  of  the  Devil 
(what  are  they?);  Rev.  21:4,  5,  no  more  death;  Rev.  5:13,  every 
created  thing — praising;  John  6:  37-39,  The  Father  hath  given 
all, — I  will  draw  all  to  myself;  Rom.  14:8,  If  we  should  die  we 
belong  to  the  Lord. 

All  the  above  passages,  whatever  their  tenor,  are  true  in  their 
own  proper  place  only;  false  if  dislocated.  How  can  it  be  said  that 
the  Word  is  rightly  divided  if  these  apparent  contradictions  are 
allowed  to  be  real?  "It  is  written,"  said  the  Tempter  on  a  very 
important  point,  selecting  one  line  of  Scripture  and  ignoring  another. 
"It  is  written  again,"  said  He  who  is  the  Truth,  giving  the  Scripture 
quoted  its  proper  harmonious  place.  "The  Scripture  cannot  be  broken" 


THINGS    THAT    DIFFER  43 

— neither  can  it  be  broken  up  into  pieces.  (Matt.4:  6,7  ;  John  10:  35.) 

Old  things,  the  former  things,  darkness,  sin,  death,  pain  pass 
away.  As  for  the  first  heaven  and  earth,  the  grave,  Hades,  Gehenna, 
Tartarus,  there  shall  be  no  more  place  found  for  them.  Who  is  he 
that  saith,  "Behold!    I  make  all  things  new?" 

Things  that  differ.  In  which  of  these  two  systems  are  we  to 
perceive  the  Truth?  Which  appeals  to  the  lover  of  God  and  the 
believer  in  His  Work?  Which  is  "the  Truth  in  Jesus?"  (i)  That 
of  which  "Sin"  is  the  central  thought ;  terror  the  great  deterrent  from 
sin  and  the  motive  for  good,  personal  salvation  the  one  great  object; 
or  (2)  that  in  which  God  revealed  in  Christ  is  the  center;  the  good- 
ness of  God  the  motive  power ;  and  the  reconciliation  of  the  Universe 
the  object?  One  is  popular  evangelism,  the  other  the  Gospel  of  God 
concerning  His  Son.  If  the  knowledge  of  God  is  salvation,  what 
shall  we  say  is  the  result  of  false  representations  of  His  character? 
Because  Love  is  called  sentimental,  and  law  practical,  are  we  to  slight 
love  that  saves,  and  cling  to  law  whose  only  end  is  death? 

II  Peter  i :  20,  No  Scripture  is  of  private  interpretation ;  that  is, 
the  context  must  be  considered,  fallible  inferences  avoided. 

Farrar  wiell  says,  "Are  we  to  accept  trans-substantiation  because 
of  the  words,  This  is  My  body? — the  supremacy  of  the  Pope  on, 
Thou  art  Peter  and  on  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church? — to  revive 
witchcraft  murders  because  Moses  said.  Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch 
to  live? — to  persecute  because  told  to  compel  them  to  come  in? — 
to  burn  men  alive  because  the  church  'Inquisitor'  attached  that  sense 
to  the  words  et  bernus  in  the  Vulgate?  Are  we  to  accept  the  entire 
Calvinistic  system  of  'reprobation'  because  Paul  quoted  the  words, 
'Jacob  have  I  loved,  but  Esau  have  I  hated'  (Rom.  9:  13)  ?  Many 
millions  have  so  taken  these  words,  supposing  themselves  to  be  taking 
them  in  their  obvious  meaning." 

Is  there  then  no  certain  way  by  which  we  can  be  assured  as  to 
what  God  meant? — There  is.  The  Gospel  of  God  is  to  be  pro- 
claimed for  the  obedience  of  faith.  ( Rom.  1:5,  16:26;  Matt.  11:25; 
John  7:17.) 

About  99  per  cent  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  about  91  per  cent 
of  the  New  is  occupied  with  the  relation  of  Israel  to  Jehovah. 
Israel  was  disobedient,  and  is  dispersed  during  this  present  dispensa- 
tion, but  in  the  coming  eon  they  will  be  fulfilling  their  office  as  a 
kingdom  of  priests.  The  nation  has  had  no  existence  since  A.  D.  70. 
Then  Israel  ceased  to  exist  politically,  and  a  new  dispensation  came  in. 


44  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

This  probabl}^  ends  during  this  20th  Century.  Then  once  more 
Israel's  Kingdom  will  be  at  hand.  Kingdom  Scriptures  will  be 
pertinent.  The  day  of  Wrath  will  "narrow  the  way"  into  the 
Kingdom  and  few  will  "endure  to  the  end,"  and  find  the  "strait  gate." 
Man's  six  millennial  days  will  end  with  nothing  finished.  The  Day 
of  the  Lord  will  then  see  the  work  prosper  in  His  hands.  All  these 
prophetic  and  apocalyptic  passages  must  be  taken  into  account,  if  the 
truth  about  the  judgments  of  the  Lord  are  to  be  understood. 

Matt.  28:  18,  Israel  is  to  teach  all  nations  for  one  thousand  years. 
"The  priests'  lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and  they  should  seek  the 
law  at  his  mouth."  (Mai.  2:7.)  The  believers  of  this  dispensation 
are  not  priests,  and  they  should  recognize  no  man  who  assumes  that 
which  belongs  to  another  time  and  to  a  specially  designated  nation. 

Some  more  distinctions  of  importance  should  be  mentioned, 
though  briefly: 

1.  The  Latv  was  given  by  Moses.  Grace  and  Truth  came  by 
Jesus  Christ. 

2.  There  are  distinctions  of  time,  past,  present  and  future. 

3.  Of  times,  seasons,  days,  dispensations,  eons,  peoples  (Jew, 
Gentile  and  the  Church  of  God). 

4.  Church  in  the  wilderness,  church  of  pentecostal  time,  church 
of  God,  church  which  is  His  body,  church  which  the  Son  of  Man 
will  build  in  the  next  eon. 

5.  There  are  covenanted  and  uncovenanted  people. 

6.  There  is  no  excuse  for  calling  a  church  a  kingdom. 

7.  Righteousness  of  God  and  Reconciliation  are  two  distinct 
doctrines. 

8.  There  is  an  old  creation  and  a  new  creation. 

9.  There  is  a  distinction  to  be  made  between  Birth  and  Creation. 

10.  Finite  and  infinite.     Heaven  and  Earth. 

11.  God  and  Man. 

12.  Between  scaffolding  and  the  perfected  building. 

13.  Between  a  partial  and  a  complete  Bible  revelation. 

14.  Between  sin  and  evil. 

15.  Righteousness  and  godliness. 

16.  Between  soul  and  spirit. 

17.  Death  and  Life. 

18.  Immortality  in  Adam  and  in  Christ. 

19.  Between  darkness  and  light. 


CHAPTER  IV 
FIVE  EONS  OF  PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION 


OIA.H. 
I. 


II 


FIVE   BIBLE   EONS. 
IIL 


IV. 


V. 


' 

, ; 

^3ATAM.  _  ^ 

j_ApAM;^ 

=_NPAM. 

SON  OF  MAN. 


SON  OF&OO. 


"Eternity"  and  "Forever  and  ever  and  ever  and  ever"  (ad  in- 
finitum) are  the  words  which,  in  the  mouth  of  a  finite  creature,  are 
meaningless.  God  in  his  Omniscience  could  comprehend  the  idea 
supposed  to  be  conveyed,  but  He  has  not  authorized  any  of  His  spokes- 
men to  put  it  into  words.  An  attempt  to  consider  endless  duration,  if 
continued  through  chih'ads,  would  add  no  more  to  a  man's  moral  or 
spiritual  nature  than  if  he  were  to  make  it  his  life  work  to  count  the 
sands  on  the  seashore.  On  the  other  hand,  the  spiritual  senses  are 
exercised  by  attention  to  the  Scriptures,  which  reveal  the  nature  and 
purpose  of  God;  such  as,  "He  that  hath  seen  Me,"  says  the  Son, 
"hath  seen  the  Father;"  and  "they  shall  all  be  taught  of  God  ;"  "Look 
unto  Me,  and  be  ye  saved,  all  the  ends  of  the  earth;  for  I  am  God 
and  there  is  none  else.  I  swear  by  Myself,  and  the  unchanging  truth 
left  my  mouth ;  to  Me  all  knees  shall  bend,  and  all  tongues  shall  con- 
fess. To  the  Lord  belong  Righteousness,  Power  and  Honor ;  Come  on 
and  bow  down,  all  you  haters  of  Him;  in  the  Lord  become  righteous 
and  glory  in  Israel's  Race"!  (John  14:9;  Isa.  54:  13;  45:22-25.) 
Such  are  the  things  the  Divine  Teacher  sets  forth.  There  is  no 
teaching  before  His  Alpha,  nor  after  His  Omega.  The  Bible  is  His 
text-book  and  the  Son  is  His  complete  Living  "Word." 

Thayer  says,  "The  endless  future  is  divided  up  into  periods." 
Will  this  sentence  stand  analysis?  Into  how  many  periods  is  eternity 
divided?  Who  divided  it?  How  long  are  these  periods?  If  of  vary- 
ing lengths,  what  are  the  maximum  and  minimum  ?  This  is  practical ; 
for  it  is  of  importance  to  know  the  possibilities  of  this  present  period, 
and  how  soon  humanity  will  enter  another  period. 


45 


46  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Endless  penalt}'  for  sin  is  a  doctrine  based  on  several  errors  of 
translation.  In  this  chapter  it  is  shown  that  no  endless  duration  is 
mentioned,  and  that  "eonian  punishment"  is  no  exception.  As  Dean 
James  M.  Gray  writes,  "When  we  speak  of  verbal  inspiration,  we 
refer  to  original  autographs  of  the  Scriptures  as  they  come  from  the 
sacred  writers,  and  not  to  any  translation  of  them." 

F.  W.  Farrar  says,  "The  pages  of  theologians  in  all  ages  show  a 
startling  prevalence  of  such  terms  as,  'everlasting  death'  —  'ever- 
lasting damnation'  —  'endless  torments'  —  'everlasting  vengeance'  — 
'everlasting  fire,' — not  one  of  which  has  scriptural  authority.  Death, 
vengeance,  torments,  are  never  modified  by  the  adjective  eonian; 
eonian  condemnation  occurs  but  once  (Heb.  6:2);  eonian  fire  occurs 
once  (Judey);  of  the  fire  of  Sodom,  twice  in  Matthevv',  once  in 
parable,  both  times  as  the  equivalent  of  le-olam;  eonian  condemna- 
tion, once  only  [at  the  discipline  of  the  coming  Millennial  eon].  Is  a 
doctrine  of  wide  and  questionable  influence  to  rest  on  the  rare  occur- 
rence of  an  adjective  which  scores  of  times  has  not  [rather,  never  has] 
the  meaning  attributed  to  it?  And  is  this  meaning  to  be  conceded 
to  it  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  the  doctrine,  if  it  had  been  intended, 
could  have  been  expressed,  without  a  shadow  of  ambiguity,  by  ten 
or  more  other  expressions  known  to,  and  used  by,  the  sacred  writers, 
but  never  applied  by  them  to  the  duration  of  evil,  or  of  future 
retribution?" 

"Eonian  punishment."  This  expression  occurs  but  once.  (Matt. 
25:46.)  One  argument  used  to  fix  the  meaning  of  endlessness  on 
this  adjective  is  this.  I  take  a  pamphlet  of  Dean  R.  A.  Torrey  as 
a  sample.  He  writes,  "Usage  is  always  the  decisive  thing  in  determin- 
ing the  meaning  of  words."  This  is  correct.  He  then  proceeds,  as 
others  do,  to  determine  what  the  adjective  eonian  means  in  its  72 
occurrences,  regardless  of  what  the  noun  eon  means,  which  occurs 
120  times,  and  regardless  of  the  meaning  of  its  Hebrew  equivalent, 
olam,  which  occurs  458  times.  His  argument  is  that  the  Bible  speaks 
of  "eonian  life"  44  times,  and  the  meaning  is  determined  after  this 
fashion ;  "no  one  questions  that  this  is  endless ;"  of  eonian  habitation, 
which,  he  says,  "the  blessed  are  to  have  in  the  world  to  come,  of 
course  these  are  never  ending;"  of  eonian  weight  of  glory,  he  says, 
"In  this  case  again,  of  course,  it  means  endless,"  and  so  on,  of  the 
home  not  made  with  hands,  of  unseen  things,  of  comfort,  of  glory, 
of  salvation,  of  redemption,  of  inheritance,  of  the  covenant,  of  the 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  47 

kingdom,  of  the  gospel,  of  God,  of  the  Spirit,  thus  "covering  59 
instances  where  the  thought  of  endlessness  is  absolutely  necessary  to 
the  sense."  His  conclusion  is,  "If  usage  can  determine  the  mean- 
ing of  any  word,  then  certainly  the  New  Testament  use  of  this  word 
determines  it  to  mean  never  ending." — He  then  cites  Matt.  25 :  46 
and  argues  that  eonian  must  mean  the  same  when  it  qualifies  punish- 
ment as  when  it  qualifies  life,  which  is  a  correct  statement.  As  this  is 
the  main  defense  of  the  position,  it  will  pay  the  Berean  searcher  to 
note  every  occurrence  of  the  adjective.  The  concordance  has  eonian 
life  44  times.  Forty  of  these  are  in  connection  with  the  Abrahamic 
Covenant,  which  is  fulfilled  in  the  eon  to  come,  and  life  for  that 
Millennial  reign  of  the  Covenanted  Messiah  is  the  meaning  in  every 
case  where  it  occurs  in  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke,  Acts,  Romans, 
Galatians,  and  Jude.  It  refers  to  the  postmillennial  eon  in  Timothy 
and  Titus  4  times.     It  is  not  found  elsewhere. 

Abraham  has  no  promise  or  covenant  beyond  this  reign  of  Christ. 
Gentiles  have  no  covenant.  Messiah,  Son  of  David,  Son  of  Man, 
reigns  a  thousand  years  in  the  coming  eon,  and  then  Christ,  the  un- 
veiled Son  of  God,  finishes  his  work  in  a  last  eon.  Millennial 
promises  are  positive  and  limited,  but  they  do  not  thereby  deny  the 
probabilities  of  additional  blessings.  So  all  the  work  of  the  Son  of 
God,  though  it  has  a  beginning,  a  progressive  course,  and  a  per- 
fected end,  and  is  accomplished  in  a  foreordained  limit  of  five  eons, 
does  not  by  these  facts  deny  anything  beyond. 

Messiah  reigns  as  king  and  priest  after  the  order  of  Melchisedec. 
"Thou  art  a  priest  for  the  eon"  ( Heb.  5:6;  7:17).  This  is  the  coming 
eon,  the  fourth,  when  priesthood  ends.  "The  kingdom  of  the  world 
has  become  that  of  our  Lord  and  His  Messiah;  and  He  shall  reign 
for  the  eons  of  the  eons  (Rev,  11  :  15).  This  reign  as  king  is  for 
the  two  coming  eons,  the  fourth  and  fifth;  then  He  delivers  up  the 
kingdom,  which  ends,  having  accomplished  its  mission,  which  was 
"subjection."  Fatherhood  is  then  manifested  as  the  accomplished 
purpose  of  the  eons. 

The  argument  that  the  eon  of  discipline  of  Matt.  25 :  46  is  the 
same  as  the  Millennial  eon  of  life  is  correct.  But  other  Scriptures 
show  an  additional  eon  in  which  the  life  continues,  while  as  to  the 
discipline,  for  some  it  ends  as  the  next  eon  begins,  and  for  others  it 
continues  through  the  tsvo  eons,  notably  the  Beast  and  the  False 
Prophet.  Scriptures  which  treat  of  the  final  eon  must  decide  for  us 
4 


48  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

the  conditions  then  existing.     The  eons  end  with  CHRIST  VIC- 
TORIOUS.     (For  "punishment"  see  Chapter  VII.) 

Other  expressions  follow  the  dispensational  rule.  Heb.  5 :  9, 
Eonian  "salvation;"  of  Hebrews  under  the  Melchisedec  priesthood, 
is,  like  the  "life,"  for  the  Millennial  Kingdom.  Heb.  9:  12,  eonian 
"redemption"  by  the  blood  of  Christ  the  Covenant  "Gaal,"  is  for  the 
covenanted  eon  in  contrast  with  the  old  yearly  atonement.  Heb. 
13:20,  The  eonian  "covenant;"  when  was  it  made?  what  are  its 
terms?  The  Millennial  blessings  are  the  promised  blessings;  but 
God  certainly  is  at  liberty  to  add  to  His  definite  promises.  Heb. 
9:15,  eonian  "inheritance;"  this  is  under  the  new  covenant  which 
takes  the  place  of  the  old;  both  of  which  promise  fulfilment  in  the 
coming  eon.  II  Peter  i:  11,  eonian  "Kingdom;"  Peter,  a  minister 
to  the  circumcision,  who  will  judge  one  of  the  Twelve  Tribes  in  the 
Millennial  Kingdom,  exhorts  his  brethren  of  the  Dispersion;  Verse 
16,  at  the  parousia  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  Note  Peter's  dox- 
ology,  "To  Him  be  the  glory  for  the  day  of  the  eon.  Amen." 

Rev.  14:6,  eonian  "gospel."  In  saying  of  this,  that  "of  course, 
it  never  ends,"  it  can  hardly  be  that  the  passage  was  read  with  any 
care.  The  last  three  and  a  half  prophetic  years  of  this  present  evil 
eon  as  unveiled  by  John  show  Satan  cast  down  to  the  earth  (Rev. 
12:9),  having  great  WRATH  (Vs.  12);  the  seven  golden  bowls 
full  of  the  wrath  of  God  are  to  be  poured  out  ( Rev.  15:7);  the  mercy 
seat  is  unapproachable  during  this  day  of  wrath  (Vs.  8)  ;  men  blas- 
phemed (Rev.  16:  21)  ;  the  great  day  of  their  wrath  is  come  (6:  17)  ; 
the  Nations  were  wroth,  and  Thy  wrath  came  (ii:  18).  An  angel 
flying  in  midheaven  having  the  eonian  gospel  to  proclaim  unto  them 
that  dwell  on  the  earth,  and  unto  every  nation,  and  tribe,  and  tongue, 
and  people:  "He  saith  with  a  great  voice  (note  the  character  of  the 
only  good-news  in  this,  the  Day  of  Wrath),  Fear  God,  and  give 
Him  glory;  for  the  hour  of  His  judgment  is  come;  and  worship  Him 
that  made  the  heaven  and  the  earth  and  sea  and  fountains  of 
Waters."  This  Angelic  Proclamation  is  in  accord  practically  with 
Eccl.  12:  13,  14  and  Rom.  2:6-11,  but  it  is  gospel  of  a  most  limited 
character,  and  its  eon  runs  out  in  three  and  a  half  j'ears,  when 
Christ  comes  in  Kingdom  glory.  Imagine,  if  you  can,  this  angel 
proclaiming  these  words  for  the  Thousand  years!  No!  "The  day 
of  wrath"  is  past  when  Jesus  comes.  The  world  will  then  go  to 
school  and  learn  of  God. 


FIVE    EOXS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  49 

IIThess.  2:  16,  eonian  "consolation  and  good  hope;"  this  hope  is 
Millennial,  as  no  other  had  up  to  this  time  (A.  D.  52)  been  revealed. 
II  Cor,  4:18,  the  same  Millennial  unseen  hope  to  offset  transient 
visible  values.  Vs.  17  estimates  the  eonian  glory  of  the  Millennium 
as  weighty.  II  Cor.  4:16  to  5:5,  Eonian,  in  this  passage  ends 
with  resurrection  and  is  thus  limited.  I  Peter  5:10,  Eonian 
"glory ;"  Peter  to  the  elect  of  the  Dispersion  ( i :  i ) ,  called 
unto  the  Millennial  glory  of  Israel ;  the  coming  eon.  Note 
doxology.  Vs.  II,  "To  Him  the  dominion  for  the  eons  of  the 
eons,"  that  is  for  the  last  two  eons  of  the  five,  the  glory  of  the  Son 
of  man  in  the  fqurth  eon  and  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  fifth  eon; 
thus  glory  after  glory  is  unveiled.  II  Tim.  2:  10,  Eonian  "glory;" 
— Paul's  last  words,  not  to  Church,  nor  saints  generally,  but  to  a 
fellow-worker  familiar  with  the  exceeding  riches  of  grace  and  glory 
of  the  heavenlies.  Timothy  would  give  the  expression  its  meaning  as 
understood  in  its  dispensational  place,  i.e.,  the  last  eon.  Philemon  15, 
Onesimus  left  his  master  "for  a  season;"  Paul  sends  him  back,  "that 
thou  shouldest  possess  him  as  a  brother"  eonially — Philemon,  like 
Timothy,  was  familiar  with  Paul's  Ephesian  truth  and  would  be 
likely  to  think  of  the  heavenly  body  of  Christ  in  the  last  two  eons. 
Matt.  18:8,  Eonian  "fire;"  Vs.  9  has  the  Gehenna  of  the  fire,  con- 
trasted with  the  eonian  life  of  one  thousand  years  in  the  coming  eon. 
Jude  7,  Sodom  and  Gomorrha,  eonian  fire;  but  Sodom  is  j'et  to  come 
into  judgment,  so  that  this  fire  is  temporary. 

Mark  3 :  29,  "has  not  forgiveness  for  THE  eon"  (what  eon  but 
the  coming  one  when  Messiah  reigns  1,000  years?).  "But  is  guilty 
of  an  eonian  sin" — eonian  refers  to  the  eon  just  mentioned  above 
and  it  is  the  coming  4th  eon.  "Damnation"  of  A.  V.  should  be 
"judgment,"  which  some  Greek  manuscripts  have.  Other  MSS. 
have  "sin."  The  latter  is  probably  correct,  as  "guilty  of  judgment" 
is  not  a  correct  phrase.  Where  there  is  one,  however,  there  is  the 
other.  While  forgiveness  for  this  sin  is  not  proclaimed  in  the  next 
eon.  it  certainly  is  in  the  last  eon.  It  is  not  charged  nor  punished. 
(But  ?ee  this  point.  Chapter  VI.) 

Matt.  12:31,  32,  "it  shall  not  be  forgiven  him,  neither  in  this  eon, 
nor  in  that  which  is  to  come."  Nothing  in  this  passage  denies  forgive- 
ness in  the  eon  that  follows  "that  which  is  to  come." 

II  Thess.  1 :  9,  Eonian  "destruction"  is  from  the  presence  or  face 


50  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

of  the  Lord  and  from  the  glory  of  His  might,  when?  (Vs.  lO  goes 
on  to  say  when) ;  it  is  Millennial  banishment. 

Heb.  6:2,  Eonian  "judgment;"  one  of  the  "first  principles"  be- 
tween Jehovah  and  Israel  in  covenant.  Rewards  and  punishments 
were  at  the  consummation  of  covenant  promise  in  the  coming  Day 
of  the  Lord,  4th  Eon.  Vs.  5,  "powers  of  the  eon  to  come"  were  those 
prophesied  of  by  Joel. 

Luke  16:9,  Eonian  "tabernacles;"  this,  like  all  New  Testament 
parables,  sets  forth  some  phase  of  the  coming  kingdom.  Vs.  9 
is  a  question,  "Do  I  say  as  the  children  of  this  world  do?  No!  on 
the  contrary  be  faithful  in  these  lesser  things  that  you  may  have  the 
Millennial  riches  committed  to  you."  The  Pharisees  were  lovers 
of  money.  (Luke  16:  19-31.)  This  is  the  fifth  parable  of  a  series, 
the  five  being  really  one  parable  (Luke  15:  3)  ;  it  refers  to  conditions 
in  the  Messianic  Kingdom.  Lazarus  is  a  sample  of  those  who  have 
that  eonian  life,  and  the  rich  man  of  those  who  enter  into  the  eonian 
discipline  of  the  Thousand  Years, 

I  Tim.  6:  15,  16,  The  titles  of  our  Lord  here  indicate  the  eons 
in  which  honor  and  power  are  ascribed;  it  is  the  last  two  eons  in 
which  our  Lord  appears  in  these  three  offices. 

Rom.  16:  25,  The  mystery  hushed  up  through  eonian  times. 
(May  we  not  say  "of  course  (  ?)this  is  not  unlimited  limitations.") 
The  eonian  God  ("of  course,"  what?).  Has  not  every  reader  sung 
"Rock  of  Ages,"  which  is  Old  Testament  "God  of  the  eons"? 
(Isa.  26:4.)  The  Son  of  man  is  Lord  of  the  Sabbath;  but  is  He 
limited  to  the  Sabbath?  (Matt.  12:8.)  Because  He  is  "God  of 
the  eons"  is  He  bound  by  this  positive  relationship  so  that  He  is 
nothing  else?  (But  see  Chapter  L  "I  am  the  Alpha  and  the  Omega, 
the  First  and  the  Last,  the  Beginning  and  the  End."  (Rev.  22:  13.) 
Here  is  limitation,  but  no  denial  of  the  Deity  of  The  Son  before 
Alpha,  when  He  was  sent  forth,  nor  after  Omega,  when  His  work 
is  consummated. 

Heb.  9:  14,  "The  Eonian  Spirit."  What  The  Holy  Spirit  did 
before  the  eons  we  are  not  told;  what  He  will  do  after  the  eons 
we  are  not  told;  but  we  have  something  to  go  on.  God  has  made 
Himself  known;  He  has  accepted  the  perfected  work  which  the 
Living  Word  was  sent  to  do;  we  certainly  do  not  look  for  cessation, 
but  we  have  confidence  in  God,  even  if  we  cannot  see  to  the  end 
of  endlessness.    Now  The  Spirit  brooded  over  the  wreck  of  the  first 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  5 1 

Cosmos;  the  Bible  reveals  His  eonian  offices,  and  "Eonian  Spirit"  is 
the  proper  reading  to  characterize  His  eonian  work. 

We  have  thus  considered  the  70  passages  where  "eonian"  is 
found,  and  the  result  is  that  usage  here  agrees  with  usage  in  480 
other  places,  and  conclude  that  if  "age"  is  its  root  meaning,  the  con- 
sistent and  harmonious  meaning  in  650  passages,  then  "eonian  life" 
in  Matt.  25 :  46  is  life  in  a  coming  definite  eon,  and  "eonian  punish- 
ment" (or  discipline)  does  not  in  itself  convey  a  meaning  of  endless- 
ness. Can  you  call  to  mind  any  adjective  which  contradicts  its  noun? 
It  is  not  true  that  "no  one  questions"  this  perversion. 

"The  stock  sophism  of  the  Latin  Augustine  had  no  acceptance  with 
the  Greek  Fathers,  —  that,  because  eonian  life  means  endless  life 
(which  is  not  true),  therefore  eonian  discipline  must  mean  endless 
punishment  (which  does  not  follow).  Such  an  argument  would 
have  seemed  idle  to  an  Origen,  a  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  or  a  Theodore. 
They  did  believe  that  punishment  was  eonian ;  they  did  not  believe  it 
to  be  endless.  Even  those  Latin  Fathers  who  had  a  competent 
knowledge  of  Greek  were  aware  that  there  was  no  real  force  in  such 
a  position.  They  of  course  knew  that  the  Latin  aeternus  was  used 
as  aionios  was  in  Greek.  Augustine  knew  this, — when  the  spirit  of 
system  allowed  him  to  think  of  the  matter.  The  Augustine  argument 
would  have  been  dead  and  buried  long  ago  were  it  not  that  "words 
often  repeated  react  on  the  minds  of  the  speaker  and  at  last  ossify 
the  very  organs  of  intelligence."  (Aside,  Do  not  try  it,  "om — om — 
om" — it  is  an  ungodly  relative  of  the  ouija  board.)  But  this  cannot 
apply  to  the  Bible  words  which  have  a  Divine  vitality,  if  used  with 
intelligence, — "IF"?  yes,  for  mechanical  repetition,  even  of  these, 
tends  to  hardness  of  heart. 

Now  the  New  Testament  writers  borrow  aionios  from  the 
Septuagint,  and  the  fact  is  "that  of  the  widely  different  subjects  to 
which  eonian  is  there  applied,  in  seventy  they  are  of  a  limited  and 
temporary  nature"   (White). 

Appeal  is  made  to  Thayer's  dictionary, — "aionios,  (i)  Without 
beginning  or  end  and  that  always  will  be."  Apply  this  definition 
and  note  the  absurdities  which  result;  "From  that  duration  which  has 
no  beginning  to  that  duration  which  has  no  beginning  or  end." 
But  how  can  we  give  up  the  familiar  phrase,  "From  everlasting  to 
everlasting  Thou  art  God?"  Read  it  as  Moses  wrote  it,  "Jehovah! 
Thou  hast  been  our  dwelling-place  from  generation  to  generation. 


52  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

ere  ever  the  mountains  were  born,  or  the  Earth  and  World  rolled 
in  their  spheres,  even  from  eon  to  eon  Thou  art  God."  (Ps.  90:  i,  2.) 
These  cycles  mark  definite  divisions  of  time.  Thayer  gives  "(2) 
without  beginning  and  (3)  without  end,  never  to  cease,  everlasting," 
but  when  does  this  thing  without  beginning,  end  ?  and  when  does  this 
without  end  begin?     (See  puzzle  column.) 

Dean  Torrey  takes  up  also  the  phrase,  "The  eons  of  the  eons," 
used  12  times  in  the  Apocalypse,  and  establishes  its  meaning  by  the 
same  "of  course"  method.  He  confesses,  however,  that  the  expression 
literally  rendered  is  "unto  the  ages  of  the  ages,"  which,  he  says, 
"means  ages  which  are  themselves  composed  of  ages.  It  represents 
not  years  tumbling  upon  years,  nor  centuries  tumbling  upon  centuries, 
but  ages  tumbling  upon  ages  in  endless  procession.  It  is  the  strongest 
possible  form  of  expression  for  absolute  endlessness."  But,  the  idea 
of  "Ages  composed  of  Ages"  is  not  found  in  Scripture.  This  is  not  to 
be  settled  by  the  simple  assertion  of  any  person  not  authorized  of  God. 
There  are  many  who  claim  authority,  but  as  these  are  all  in  high 
church  high  seats,  they  will  ignore  this  discussion,  having  little  use 
for  Scriptures. 

The  "present  eon"  is  called  "evil"  (Gal.  1:4);  the  two  eons 
preceding  this  were  evil;  the  cosmos  of  each  was  wrecked.  But  in 
"the  eons  of  the  eons"  the  glory  of  Christ  Jesus  will  be  unveiled, 
therefore  it  is  appropriate  that  these  should  be  mentioned  together 
in  this  form  in  the  Unveiling.  To  Christ  Jesus  be  the  glory  of  the 
coming  eon  of  His  Millennial  reign,  and  of  the  greater  personal  glory 
of  the  last  eon  when  his  Divine  Sonship  is  unveiled.  These  twelve 
ascriptions  of  praise  "for  the  eons  of  the  eons"  are  definitely  for  the 
last  two  eons,  the  fourth  and  the  fifth.  It  is  instructive  to  see  that 
Jude  (Vs.  25)  ascribes  glory,  majesty,  dominion  and  power  to  the  only 
God  our  Savior  before  all  the  eons!  and  now!  and  for  all  the  eons! 
but  stops  there,  not  adding  "and  after  all  the  eons"  which  would  be 
looked  for  as  filling  out  the  expression.  And  where  the  Scripture 
thus  markedly  stops,  irreverent  tongues  wag  on  with  their  "countless 
ages  of  eternity"  and  their  mechanical  repetition  of  "for  ever  and 
ever  and  ever,"  words  on  the  lips  of  ignorance  meaningless.  As  the 
kingdom  is  delivered  up  at  the  end  (I  Cor.  15 :  24),  and  the  reign  of 
Christ  is  over,  dominion  is  ascribed  to  Him  for  these  last  two  eons 
only.  How  false  the  exposition  of  these  twelve  passages  that  ascribes 
endless  kingly  dominion  to  Him  after  He  has  given  up  the  kingdom. 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  53 

Messiah  will  indeed  reign  in  glory,  yet  His  visible  personal  glory 
will  not  be  equal  to  that  which  he  had  with  the  Father  before  the 
eons,  which  glory  He  at  last  resumes.  Does  Dean  Torrey's  contention 
make  this  of  no  effect,  when  he  anticipates  this  fact  as  follows? 
"In  Rev.  11:15,  He  shall  reign, — 'He'  does  not  necessarily  refer 
to  the  Christ  (of  I  Cor.  15:  24)  but  rather  to  the  Lord  Jehovah,  in 
which  case  the  argument  falls  to  the  ground."  Who  shall  decide 
when  Deans  D.  D.  Disagree?  Dean  Gray  writes:  "Wherever 
Jehovah  is  spoken  of  in  the  Old  Testament  as  manifesting  Himself 
to  Men,  there,  I  think,  the  Second  Person  of  the  Trinity  is  desig- 
nated. With  this  understanding,  it  is  proper  to  say,  that  the  Jesus 
of  the  New  Testament  is  the  Jehovah  of  the  Old  Testament." 
Jesus  is  expressly  identified  as  Jehovah  in  Matt.  11:3-6  with 
Rev.  1 :  8,  John  12:  41  with  Isa.  6,  I  Cor,  10:9  with  Deut.  6:16, 
Heb.  11:26,  I  Peter  i:  11.  Trying  to  visualize  the  endless  future, 
finite  men  would  even  perpetuate  kingdom  conditions.  There  is 
some  consistency  in  this,  for  a  king  and  kingdom  are  necessary  only 
where  there  is  some  evil  to  subdue.  The  question  at  issue  might  be 
put  thus.  Is  there  an  endless  future  for  evil?  for  the  law  of  sin 
and  death?  for  successful  opposition  to  the  God  of  all  grace?  for  an 
ungratified  desire  of  God?  for  an  endless  exercise  of  wrath  and 
infliction  of  torment  by  the  Savior  of  the  world.  Him  of  whom  it 
is  said,  "He  shall  see  of  the  travail  of  His  soul  and  shall  be  satisfied"? 
— "Thou  wilt  have  a  desire  to  the  work  of  thine  hands"?  There  is 
good  reason,  then,  to  differ  from  this  repeated  declaration,  "There  is 
not  a  single  passage  in  the  book  (Revelation)  in  which  the  ex- 
pression 'the  eons  of  the  eons'  is  used  of  anything  but  that  which  is 
absolutely  endless.  So  (?)  the  question  is  answered  again,  and 
answered  decisively  that  the  conscious  suffering  of  the  persistently 
impenitent  is  absolutely  endless,"  ("Persistently  impenitent"  is 
taken  up  later.)  Vagueness  is  removed  from  this  notable  expression 
also  by  the  use  of  the  definite  article;  THE  eons  of  the  eons  can 
mean  only  the  last  two.  Of  these  twelve  passages  in  Revelation, 
five  refer  to  the  resurrection  life  of  Christ,  two  to  His  reign  with 
His  saints,  two  are  ascription  of  glory  for  the  two  eons,  and  three 
to  torments  of  the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  and  of  those  who  have 
the  mark  of  the  beast,  as  the  Harlot  Babylon  has.  These  last  are 
Jews  covenanted  Avith  Antichrist.  The  language  of  text  and  context 
in  these  twelve  passages  does  not  convey  any  information  concerning 


54  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

conditions  beyond  the  end.  See  Diagram  I,  where  the  definite  eon  is 
indicated  to  which  each  of  the  192  occurrences  of  the  word  refer. 

Again,  the  plural,  "eons,"  is  found  33  times.  Consider  the 
absurdity  of  "Eternities."  Note  the  absurd  rendering  of  Am.  R.  V. 
in  II  Tim.  1 :  9,  Titus  i :  2,  "before  eternal  times."  The  rendering 
"forever"  is  found  63  times  in  the  New  Testament;  the  Am.  R.  V. 
has  in  48  of  these  cases  put  in  the  margin ;  "Greek,  Age" !  What  shall 
we  say  of  the  15  left  in  the  text  unnoted?  Fear?  Cowardice? 
Expediency?  Ignorance?  If  the  Greek  is  eon,  why  cannot  eon  be 
put  in  the  text?  It  would  help  some.  What  does  "usage"  determine 
in  these  63  passages  in  the  Am.  R.  V.  ? — Why,  that  there  is  one  usage 
in  the  Greek,  and  a  contradictory  usage  in  the  English.  Then  in  the 
argument,  we  have  one  usage  for  the  noun,  and  a  contradictory  usage 
claimed  for  its  adjective.  Usage  determines  (of  course),  but  what 
kind  of  usage?  Business  men  may  buy,  trusting  to  a  few  samples 
exhibited  in  a  poor  light,  but  the  question  here  at  issue  has  to  do  with 
the  integrity  and  meaning  of  God's  Word  which  reveals  His  character 
and  purposes.  Do  you  preach  "endless  punishment  in  hell"  before  you 
have  considered  these  652  occurrences  of  olam  and  eon^. 

F.  D.  Maurice  has  expressed  a  thought,  worthy  in  itself,  but 
which  he  has  foisted  on  the  word  "eternal."  He  says  "it  should  not 
be  conceived  of  in  terms  of  time  duration."  "This  is  eonian  life; 
that  they  should  know  Thee,  the  only  true  God"  (John  17:3),  is 
a  passage  which  makes  it  "the  perception  of  His  love,  the  capacity 
of  loving."  But, — it  is  the  word  "life"  that  expresses  this,  not  the 
eonian  limit  of  it. 

Westcott  also  takes  this  up,  "Eternal  life  is  that  which  Paul 
speaks  of  as  the  life  indeed  (I  Tim.  6:  19,  R.  V.),  and  the  life  of  God 
(Eph.  4:  18).  It  is  not  an  endless  duration  of  being  in  time,  but 
being  of  which  time  is  not  a  measure."  Here  again,  this  may  be  said 
of  the  life,  but  eonian  retains  its  time  character  and  indicates  the 
blessing  of  this  life  during  the  Millennial  reign. 

Consider  a  few  facts  in  the  history  of  the  word  eon.  We  have  it 
transferred  direct  from  Greek  into  our  English  dictionaries,  its 
equivalent  olam  also.  Its  definition  there  approximates  the  Scripture 
use.  Eon  is  the  same  as  the  Latin  aevum;  aevi-turnus,  shortened  into 
ae-turnus — is  the  English  E-ternal,  which  is  thus  in  itself  simply 
age-lasting.  The  presumptuous  "Sempi-ternity,"  always-lasting,  has 
been  forced  upon  it.     The  words  "ever"  and  "age"  also  come  from 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  55 

this  same  Latin  aevum  and  mean  age,  so  that  ever-X^siing  is  simply 
age-lasting  from  the  Latin  aevi-turnus.  But  these  original  meanings 
have  been  so  perverted  that  a  due  respect  for  Scripture  can  be  best 
shown  by  using  the  original  eon,  eonian.  The  dead  language  is 
unchanged,  but  the  living  has  changed  as  above. 

Professor  Lewis  says  "ever"  (German  ewig)  was  originally  a 
noun  denoting  age,  just  like  the  Greek,  Latin,  and  Hebrew  words 
corresponding  to  it.  He  says  of  Ps.  90:2,  "from  everlasting  to 
everlasting  is  vague;  it  is  in  fact  absurd."  He  would  render  it  "from 
world  to  world."  Why  avoid  the  exact,  "From  olam  to  olam,"  "from 
eon  to  eon,"  or  the  more  common  "from  age  to  age?"  He  also  says, 
"This  language  is  sometimes  employed  hyperbolically,  as  in,  'This 
place  which  I  gave  to  your  fathers  from  olam,  and  on  to  olam,'  or 
forever,  if  we  take,  if  we  have  faith  in  its  higher  spiritual  sense  of  the 
eternal  settlement,  the  eternal  rest,  of  which  the  settlement  in  Canaan 
was  the  appointed  type."  He  gives  the  following  texts  where  olam 
might  be  rendered  world:  "Ps.  145:13,  Thy  Kingdom  is  for  the 
worlds."  But  why  not  simply  "for  the  eons?"  {olamim,  plural)  ; 
and  so  Ps.  106:  31,  48,  Hab.  3:  6.  "In  Jer.  10:  10,  God  of  life.  King 
of  the  world."  Why  not  "of  the  eon?"  "Deut.  33:  27,  arms  of  the 
world,  that  is  that  support  the  world  movement."  (Better, God  is  above 
him  from  of  old  (Qederu)  and  his  arms  underneath  for  the  eon.) 

The  Septuagint,  in  common  use  in  the  time  of  Christ,  thus 
rendered  the  Hebrew  olam.  Olam  occurs  plural  11  times;  with  the 
Mosaic  ordinances  and  other  things  which  are  "done  away,"  52  times; 
from  olam,  26  times;  to  olam,  169  times;  with  ad,  99  times;  absurd 
renderings,  10  times.  Here  is  the  usage  of  80  per  cent  where  a  limited 
sense  is  required  by  Scripture  itself,  not  by  any  "of  course"  argument. 
When  we  learn  to  use  eon  and  eonian,  discarding  all  translations,  the 
meaning  of  many  passages  will  be  more  clearly  seen.  See  Isa.  26:  4, 
Rock  of  the  eons;  Ps.  145 :  13,  Kingdom  of  all  the  eons;  Gen.  49:  26, 
eonian  hills;  Ex.  28:43,  Aaron's  garments;  Ex,  21 : 6,  slave  for 
olam,  his  lifetime;  Ps.  90:  2,  from  olam  to  olam;  Joel  2:  2,  hath  not 
been  from  olam;  H  Chron.  30:  8,  Sanctuary  which  He  hath  sanctified 
for  olam;  Zech.  1:5,  do  they  live  unto  the  olam;  Ps.  119:  112,  for- 
ever even  unto  the  end.  What  can  this  absurd  rendering  mean? 
A  correct  reading  would  be  "for  the  eonian  reward."  What  has 
been  said  of  eon  in  the  New  Testament  is  just  as  true  of  olam  in  the 
Old  Testament.    Both  mean  a  period  of  time,  not  definite,  but  limited. 


56  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Dean  Plumptre  says,  "I  fail  to  find,  as  it  is  used  in  the  Greek  fathers, 
any  instance  in  which  the  idea  of  time  duration  is  eliminated." 

Prof.  Taylor  Lewis  says,  "The  conception  of  absolute  endlessness 
as  etymological  in  olam  or  eon  would  clearly  have  prevented  plurals." 
He  has  an  excursus  on  olamic  words,  in  Lange's  Commentary.  He 
acknowledges  its  limited  sense  in  Eccl.  1:3,  "The  earth  abideth 
olam."  He  would  render  it  "for  the  world"  or  "for  the  world-time" 
as  in  Eccl.  3:11,  "not  a  space-world."  "It  may  mean  forever  when 
the  context  clearly  demands  it."  This  is  a  statement  often  made.  As 
Robert  Anderson  puts  it,  these  olamic,  eonian  words  are  "like  a 
chameleon  taking  on  color  from  environment." 

The  idea  is  thus  formulated ;  "Olam  and  eon  are  limited  in  sense 
when  used  with  what  is  limited  in  nature,  but  unlimited  in  sense 
when  used  with  what  is  unlimited  in  nature."  Let  us  try  it.  In 
"God  of  the  eons"  it  is  unlimited  because  God  is.  In  God  of  the 
whole  earth,  the  earth  is  unlimited  because  God  is.  According  to  this 
a  useless  word.  In  the  expression,  "Eonian  God,"  the  adjective  does 
not  mean  endless  necessarily,  any  more  than  "God's  day"  makes  the 
day  endless. 

Are  God's  words  so  indeterminate  in  use?  In  the  expression, 
"Eternal  times,"  are  both  words  chameleonic?  There  is  a  shadow 
of  fact  in  this  idea  of  words,  but  it  should  not  mar  a  thoroughly 
definite  Scripture  doctrine  of  the  eons. 

Lewis  says,  "Neither  olam  nor  eon  has  ever  the  sense  of  cosmos 
in  Bible  use;  this  idea  was  Talmudic,  where  a  smattering  of  Greek 
science  had  leaked  into  their  exclusive  Judaism.  They,  however, 
retained  the  time  sense  and  spoke  of  "this"  olam  and  "the  olam  to 
come."  In  those  days  they  were  not  speculating  on  space — worlds, 
but  they,  like  all  humans,  had  a  blessed  eon  to  come  in  their  heart. 

This  unqualified  argument  suffers  by  what  the  Doctor  says  else- 
where in  Gen.  17:  8,  "I  will  give  .  .  .  the  land  .  .  .  for  an  ever- 
lasting [olam'\  possession,"  which  is  contradicted  by  II  Peter  3:  10, 
"the  earth  .  .  .  shall  be  burned  up."  "Of  course,  in  this  case, 
everlasting  means  only  as  long  as  the  earth  shall  last,  and  there  are 
other  cases  where  the  word  has  time  limits.  BUT,  where  the  word 
is  used  with  reference  to  the  punishment  of  the  wicked,  time  has 
passed  out  of  the  consideration  altogether,  and  it  is  everlasting  after 
time  shall  be  no  longer,  everlasting  without  any  kind  of  limit  known 
to  our  understanding.     Indeed,  this  word  everlasting  [aionios^  is  the 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  57 

Strongest  word  in  the  Greek  language  to  express  the  idea  of  endless- 
ness." "While  it  is  sometimes  employed  in  the  limited  sense,  it  is  also 
employed  at  other  times  where  no  limit  can  be  placed  upon  it." 

Professor  Lewis  continues,  "It  is  necessary  (  ?)  to  use  this  positive 
finite  term  to  express  an  infinite  idea  strictly  transcending  all  language, 
unless  it  is  to  be  poorly  represented  by  a  conceptionless  negative  word, 
which,  although  logically  correct,  is  far  inferior  in  vividness  and 
power  to  some  vast  though  finite  term,  which  by  its  very  greatness 
and  immeasurability,  raises  in  the  mind  something  beyond  and  ever 
still  beyond,  worlds  without  end.  The  effect  is  still  further  increased 
by  plurals  and  reduplications,  such  as  the  Hebrew  olams,  and  olams 
of  olams,  the  Greek  eons  of  eons,  and  the  Latin  secula  seculoi-um,  or 
our  modern  phrase  for  ever  and  ever,  where  'ever'  was  originally  a 
noun  denoting  age  or  vast  period,  just  like  the  Greek,  Latin,  and 
Hebrew  words  corresponding  to  it."  "The  eon  of  the  earth,  in 
Eccl.  I  :  3,  transcends  the  eon  of  a  man,  his  generation,  or  lifetime." 
In  all  this  "striving  after  wind"  we  might  bear  in  mind  that  we  have 
the  definite  time  in  years  of  two,  and  probably  three,  of  these  eons 
in  which  the  relation  of  man  to  God  is  considered;  namely,  1,656, 
4,344  and  1,000  years  for  the  2d,  3d  and  4th  respectively.  But 
Systematic  Theology  demands  an  "eternity"  and  the  Bible  must 
produce  it,  so  Professor  Lewis  has  the  following: 

"Another  mode  of  impressing  the  idea  of  absolute  eternity  is  by 
the  general  scenic  representations  of  the  context,  which  bring  up  the 
thought  of  finality  in  the  passage,  giving  it  the  aspect  of  something 
settled,  never  to  be  disturbed,  having  nothing  beyond  that  can  possibly 
change  it,  as  in  that  most  impressive  close  of  Matthew  25."  Strange 
that  a  judgment  of  a  small  part  of  humanity,  the  nations  living  when 
the  Lord  comes  at  the  beginning  of  His  Millennial  reign,  their  pos- 
sible participation  in  that  Kingdom  decided  by  the  performance  or 
neglect  of  a  few  kind  acts,  should  appear  to  a  profound  theologian 
to  bear  such  a  semblance  of  finality ! 

Professor  Lewis  calls  it  a  narrow  idea,  that  finite  ideas  of  time 
and  space  should  not  be  conceived  of  as  of  force  in  God's  eternity. 
"What  a  narrow  idea,"  he  says,  "that  the  great  antepast  and  the  great 
future,  after  this  brief  olam  has  passed  away,  are  to  have  no 
chronology  of  a  higher  kind,  no  other  worlds,  and  worlds  of  worlds, 
succeeding  each  other  in  number  and  variety  inconceivable!"  Just  so, 
inconceivable!     Then  why  try  to  express  a  conceptionless  idea? — 


58  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Answer'.  Because  "striving  after  wind"  is  common  to  our  restless 
humanity. 

Stuart,  on  Eccl.  12:  i,  says,  however,  "Time,  divided  either  in 
smaller  or  greater  eons,  is  not  predicable  of  a  future  state." 

Professor  Lewis  says  correctly,  though  inconsistently,  "Neither 
clam  nor  eon  has  ever  the  sense  of  cosmos  in  Bible  use."  If  Scripture 
speaks  of  "worlds,"  cosmos  is  the  word  used  (Heb.  tebel),  not 
olam  nor  eon. 

"Do  not  these  plurals  weaken  Matt.  25 :  46  as  a  proof  text  for 
endless  punishment?"  says  Lewis,  who  adds,  "Stress  must  not  be  put 
on  this  time-sense  of  eonian.  Another  method  is  much  more  impres- 
sive and  cavil-silencing.  It  is  to  INSIST  on  that  dread  aspect  of 
finality  that  appears  not  in  single  words  merely,  but  in  the  power  and 
vividness  of  the  language  taken  as  a  whole."  "The  parabolic  images 
evidently  [this  is  the  "of  course"  argument]  represent  a  closing  scene 
('parabolic'  is  questionable,  even  though  an  illustration  of  sheep  and 
goats  is  used),  closing  one  dispensation,  but  as  evidently  opening 
another,  'enter  in.'  "  That  Lewis  is  not  a  pre-millennarian  is  seen 
by  his  next  sentence,  and  this  dispensational  confusion  adds  to  the 
profoundness  of  his  remarks.  He  says  again,  "It  is  the  last  great  act 
in  the  drama  of  human  existence,  of  the  human  world  or  eon,  if  not 
of  the  cosmical,  the  'end'  of  Matt.  13:  39,  the  settlement,  the  reckon- 
ing of  the  world,  or  more  strongly  Worlds  (Heb.  9:  26),  when  'God 
demands  again  the  ages  fled'  (Eccl.  3:  15),  At  all  events,  there  is 
a  judgment;  there  comes,  at  last,  an  end;  sentence  is  pronounced; 
the  condemned  go  away  into  eonian  punishment,  the  righteous  into 
eonian  life.  The  adjective  may  mean  an  existence,  a  duration,  meas- 
ured by  eons — but  it  would  be  more  in  accordance  with  the  plainest 
etymological  usage  to  give  it  simply  the  sense  of  olamic  or  eonian. 
These  shall  go  away  into  the  punishment  {kolasis,  restraint,  imprison- 
ment) of  the  world  to  come,  and  these  into  the  life  of  the  world 
to  come.  This  is  all  we  can  etymologically  or  exegetically  make  of 
the  word  in  this  passage."  But  why  make  anything  other  out  of  it 
than  "eon  to  come?" 

In  Syriac,  "that  which  belongs  to  the  olam"  (singular)  is  the 
rendering  of  aionios  in  Matt.  19:  16,  Luke  18:  18,  John  3:  15,  Acts 
13:  46,  I  Tim.  6:  12,  etc. 

Some  of  these  ideas,  if  followed  up,  would  have  brought  the  truth 
into  clearer  light,  but  they  are  mentioned  only  to  turn  from  them 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  59 

to  the  Platonic  tradition,  to  the  strictly  legal  aspect,  natural,  not 
spiritual. 

Professor  Lewis  then  repeats  Matt.  25 :  46  and  says,  "There  is 
no  more,  let  no  one  add  to  it;  let  no  one  take  away!"  But  the  Bible 
was  not  finished  with  the  twenty-fifth  chapter  of  Matthew.  Paul 
claims  authority  to  add  much.     Why  shut  the  door? 

One  last  word  from  the  Professor:  "All  these  olamic  expressions 
are  utterly  at  war  with  the  thought  of  the  great  eternal  past  and 
future  as  blank  undivided  durations,  which  would  confine  all  history 
and  all  chronology  to  this  brief  eon  we  call  time."  Say  "all  revealed 
history"  and  this  last  inference  is  a  correct  statement  of  the  case, 
and  one  of  the  things  contended  for  in  this  book. 

It  is  admitted  by  scholars  that  olamic  and  eonian  do  not  mean 
endless,  and  that  an  unlimited  meaning  is  forced  upon  them.  But 
God  could  find  a  word  positively  meaning  endless  if  He  wanted  to 
express  such  an  idea;  just  as  missionaries  translating  the  Bible  have 
to  "lend"  a  word  where  the  native  vocabulary  has  no  equivalent. 
Loan  words  are  to  be  found  in  abundance  in  the  English  dictionary. 

Dr.  W.  G.  T.  Shedd's  idea  is  that  there  are  but  two  eons :  "The 
present  age  is  time,  the  future  age  is  eternity,  that  is,  a  relative 
eternity, — not  absolute  eternity  which  has  no  beginning  as  well  as 
no  ending.  The  punishment  of  the  wicked  is  more  properly  endless 
than  eternal.  .  .  .  The  Revisers'  rendering  of  Titus  i :  2  by 
'before  times  eternal'  involves  the  absurdity  that  a  Divine  promise 
is  made  prior  to  eternity."  Of  the  various  forms,  plural  and  com- 
pound, they  are  dismissed  summarily:  "All  alike  denote  the  one 
infinite  and  endless  eon  or  age."  Which  tautological  dictum,  in 
common  with  the  host  of  similar  assertions,  it  is  useless  to  contend 
against.  A  Berean  Believer  and  a  Systematic  Theologian  are  poles 
apart  in  their  point  of  view.  The  aim  of  Professor  Shedd  is  seen  in 
his  conclusion,  "If  therefore  the  punishment  of  the  wicked  occurs  in 
the  present  eon,  it  is  eonian  in  the  sense  of  temporal,  but  if  it  occurs 
in  the  future  eon,  it  is  eonian  in  the  sense  of  endless.  The  adjective 
takes  its  meaning  from  the  noun." 

Test  the  Doctor's  theory.  Heb.  5 :  6,  "a  priest  for  the  eon,"  and 
ask  which  one  of  the  two?  I  Phil.  3:18,  "The  day  of  the  eon," 
time  or  eternity?  Heb.  i :  8,  "the  eon  of  the  eons;"  Eph.  3:21,  "The 
eon  of  the  eons;"  Gal.  i :  4,  Luke  i :  33,  John  8:  51,  52,  Heb.  9:  26, 
"end  of  the  eons;"  Eph.  2:7,  "eons  to  come;"  Eph.  3 :  11;  I  Tim. 


6o  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

i:  17;  Heb.  1:2,  11:3.  All  these  distinctions  are  brushed  aside  as 
meaningless.  He  calls  the  definite  plurals  a  rhetorical  figure.  Evi- 
dently the  Millennial  reign  of  the  eon  to  come  is  not  in  his  "system." 
The  young  theolog  accepts  the  teaching  that  "there  are  two  limited 
periods,  one  finite,  and  the  other  infinite.  Until  a  man  dies  he  is  in 
this  world  (the  now  eon,  II  Peter  3 :  7)  ;  after  death  he  is  in  the 
future  world  (eon) ."  He  passes  examination,  is  ordained,  and  whether 
he  preaches  this  theory  or  not,  his  ministry  is  colored  by  it.  We  might 
ask  for  some  fixing  of  the  time  when  finite  eternity  ends  and  infinite 
eternity  begins,  but  the  reader  can  fix  that  point  for  himself.  (But 
— can  he?) 

Further  Dr.  Shedd  says  of  aionios,  adj.,  substantive  eon.  "It  is  a 
time  word.  It  denotes  duration  more  or  less,  but  does  not  determine 
its  length.  God  has  duration,  and  angels  have  duration.  The 
Creator  has  an  eon,  and  the  creature  has  an  eon  (his  lifetime,  Ps. 
39:5)."  It  is  said,  properly,  that  terms  of  time  and  space  do  not 
apply  to  God,  nor  to  the  so-called  eternity.  Everything  has  its  eon. 
Creation  is  wrought  out  in  eons.  But  to  say  that  God  has  his  eon  is 
a  thoroughly  pagan  idea,  and  was  taught  by  Plato.  It  does  not  accord 
with  the  Bible  usage  of  the  word. 

An  eon  is  the  season  required  for  full  development,  from  the 
germinal  seed  through  growth  to  resurrection  fruitage.  "First  the 
blade,  then  the  ear,  then  the  full  corn  in  the  ear."  "For  everything 
there  is  a  season,  and  a  time  for  every  purpose  under  heaven." 
(Eccl.  3:  I.) 

Here  is  a  word  in  constant  Bible  use  from  Moses  to  Paul,  occur- 
ring 652  times  in  Scripture,  whose  meaning  has  been  disputed  for 
eighteen  centuries.  This  dispute  is  kept  alive  by  ecclesiastical  au- 
thorities, who  deem  the  threat  of  endless  hell-fire  necessary  to  main- 
tain the  high  seats  of  spiritual  dominance  which  they  have  usurped, 
from  "popes"  down  to  "chief  men  among  the  brethren." 

On  the  very  first  occurrence,  its  meaning  should  be  seen. 
Gen.  3 :  22,  and  Jehovah  Elohim  said,  "Behold  the  man  is  become 
as  one  of  us,  to  know  good  and  evil;  and  now,  lest  he  put  forth  his 
hand,  and  take  also  of  the  tree  of  life,  and  eat,  and  live  le-olam" 
(unto  the  olam,  or  for  the  olam,  Greek,  eis  ton  aiona,  for  the  eon). 
The  opening  of  Genesis  shows  the  work  of  the  Creative  Word  to  be 
in  progressive  stages.  That  "for  the  eon"  should  be  entirely  outside 
of   this   Divine  program,   or  strictly  within  it,   is  for  the  spiritual 


FIVE    EONS    OF    PROGRESSIVE    REVELATION  6l 

perception  of  faith  to  decide.  The  true  rendering  will  become  more 
and  more  apparent  as  the  reference  to  the  eons  is  traced  through  the 
book.  The  marked  use  of  the  phrase,  "the  eons  of  the  eons,"  should 
then  be  seen  to  refer  to  the  last  two  eons  in  which  the  glory  of  the 
Word  of  God,  Son  of  Man,  Son  of  God,  is  unveiled.  The  first 
three  of  the  eons  have  been  "evil,"  the  last  two  see  the  end  of  evil  in 
the  complete  victory  of  Christ  Jesus. 

Nearly  every  one  of  the  Bible  writers  uses  the  word  EON  or  its 
equivalent,  OLAM.  They  all  use  it  consistently  and  harmoniously, 
under  inspiration,  to  indicate  divinely  appointed  periods  of  time. 
A  study  of  the  text  reveals  five  main  eons  in  the  course  of  the  program 
from  Alpha  to  Omega,  in  which  the  Living  Word  "Sent  forth"  from 
God,  initiates,  carries  on,  and  completes  the  purpose  of  God  called 
"the  purpose  of  the  eons."  (Eph.  3 :  11.)  These  were  made  "by  the 
Son,"  and  "framed"  ( Heb.  1:2,11:3).  Moses  used  it  in  "The  Law" 
73  times,  37  of  which  are  applied  to  statutes  that  are  "done  away," 
and  most  of  the  others  are  applied  to  things  as  obviously  temporary. 
This  establishes  usage  that  was  accepted  and  followed  by  Samuel, 
David,  Isaiah,  Jeremiah,  Ezekiel,  Daniel,  and  ten  of  the  minor 
prophets. 

See  Moses,  in  Ex.  12:  14,  17,  24,  who  establishes  the  Passover 
ordinance  for  the  eon.  This  disappears  in  the  Millennial  reign. 
Samuel,  in  II  Sam.  12:  10,  the  sword  shall  not  depart  from  the  house 
of  David  for  the  eon ;  this  does  not  follow  David's  house  into  the 
Millennium.  David,  in  Ps.  143:  3,  speaks  of  the  eonian  dead;  Isaiah, 
in  32:  14,  the  watch  towers  to  become  dens  for  wild  asses  for  the  eon; 
Jer.  5:  22,  the  sand  as  the  bound  of  the  sea  until  the  eon  when  there 
shall  be  no  more  sea;  Ezek.  43:7,  will  dwell  among  the  children 
of  Israel  for  the  eon,  the  Millennial  eon;  Dan.  12:2,  to  eonian  life, 
of  the  Millennial  Kingdom. 

The  Septuagint  uses  Eonian  some  150  times,  to  render  the  age 
limited  olam  of  such  passages  as  Prov.  22:28,  Eonian  landmarks; 
Ps.  77:  5,  Eonian  years;  Ex.  12:  14,  Lev.  23:  14,  the  Eonian  statutes 
of  the  ritual,  etc.  The  writers  and  early  readers  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment did  not  quote  this  Old  Testament  Version  with  this  meaning, 
and  then  use  it  immediately  in  a  contradictory  sense.  No;  the  Bible 
use  of  this  word,  as  of  all  others,  is  consistent.  It  condemns  the 
rendering  of  Eonian  by  any  word  meaning  endless. 

Dean  Gray  writes,  "Men  have  heard  that  the  word  translated 


62  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

'eternal'  and  'everlasting'  does  not  in  the  Greek  and  pagan  usage 
always  or  absolutely  convey  the  idea  of  eternity.  And  they  have 
taken  refuge  from  the  fear  of  punishment  for  sin  in  this  rumor." 
Rumor?  Take  a  Concordance  and  a  copy  of  the  American  Revised 
Version.  The  Concordance  shows  this  word  eon  rendered  "forever" 
64  times.  The  American  Revised  Version  has  in  49  of  these  places 
the  note  in  the  margin,  Greek,  "Age."  Some  who  have  not  heard 
the  rumor  about  pagan  Greek  eons  have  come  across  this  limitation 
with  the  Bible  before  them.  The  fact  is  that  eon  with  its  Hebrew 
equivalent  occurs  652  times.  In  more  than  half  of  these  cases  it  is 
not  translated  by  words  of  unlimited  sense,  and  after  a  thorough 
consideration,  many  students  have  a  confirmed  belief  that  not  in  one 
of  these  652  cases  is  unlimited  duration  expressed.  In  all  these  cases 
"eon"  is  the  proper  English  for  the  noun,  and  "eonian"  for  the 
adjective.  (See  English  dictionary  "eon"  and  "olam.")  Jonah  was 
in  the  belly  of  the  fish  for  the  eon,  not  forever.  The  Hebrew  slave 
served  his  master  for  his  eon,  not  forever.  The  "statutes"  of  the  law 
were  for  the  eon,  not  forever;  they  were  to  be  "done  away."  The 
Gospel  of  Rev,  14:9  will  not  be  "everlasting."  Read  it;  it  is  for 
the  last  three  and  a  half  years  of  this  present  evil  eon,  the  day  of 
wrath.  Why  does  Dean  Gray  lug  in  "rumor"  from  paganism  as 
the  "refuge"  to  which  "men  flee  from  the  fear  of  punishment  for  sin?" 
He  continues,  "Satan  has  deceived  them  to  believe  that  the  pleasures 
of  sin  for  a  season  were  worth  the  experience  of  punishment,  no 
matter  how  long  nor  how  severe,  if  only  it  have  an  end."  Dean  Gray 
also  says,  "It  may  be  that  as  the  Greeks  used  the  word,  it  had  the 
significance  of  a  vague  eternity,  confused  and  dark,  but  (let  us  re- 
member this),  pagan  words  used  by  New  Testament  writers  take 
the  New  Testament  ideas."  Yes!  Surely.  Eon,  in  the  Greek  New 
Testament,  and  in  the  English  dictionary,  means  an  "age,"  which  is 
a  limited  period. 

Gal.  1:4,  "This  present  evil  eon"  (not  dispensation).  Do  you 
know  when  this  began,  and  what  is  said  of  events  that  close  it? 
Is  not  this  knowledge  necessary  if  you  teach  doctrines  in  which  this 
word  eon  is  an  important  element?  How  many  of  these  652  passages 
have  you  examined  before  you  preach  "eternity?" 

Dean  Torrey  says,  "All  reasoning  by  finite  men  as  to  what  an 
infinitely  wise  God  must  do  are  utterly  futile  and  an  utter  waste  of 
time" — and — "It  is  the  most  ludicrous  conceit  for  beings  so  limited 


FIVE    EONS   OF    PROGRESSIVE   REVELATION  63 

and  foolish  as  the  wisest  of  men  are  to  attempt  to  dogmatize  how  a 
God  of  infinite  wisdom  must  act."  True,  let  us  all  keep  within  the 
limits  of  the  eons  where  the  Son  of  God  meets  us  with  Divine  teach- 
ing, and  leave  a  so-called  eternity  alone  as  beyond  our  comprehension. 
Then  in  place  of  Endless  Law,  Endless  Sin,  Endless  Death,  we  will 
learn  that  Law  is  "done  away"  that  Gospel  ministry  might  come  in; 
that  sin  was  put  away  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself;  and  that  death 
shall  be  no  more.  The  Dean  describes  a  certain  criminal  and  says 
indignantly,  "If  there  is  not  an  eternal  hell  for  that  kind  of  man, 
there  ought  to  be."  Here  he  voices  the  intuitive  feeling  of  the  fallen 
natural  man  under  law,  rather  than  the  gospel. 

When  God  speaks  to  man  of  time,  he  describes  it  by  revolutions 
and  not  by  a  straight  line  which  has  no  beginning  nor  end,  even 
though  w^e  define  it  as  the  shortest  distance  between  two  points. 
Farrar  says,  "To  make  eternity  a  synonym  of  time  endlessly  prolonged 
is  a  conception  as  mean  in  philosophy  as  it  is  false  theologically." 
Tertullian  says,  "Eternity  has  no  time ;  it  is  itself  all  time."  Thomas 
Aquinas  says,  "Eternity  has  no  succession,  but  it  exists  altogether." 
Bishop  Pearson  says,  "The  duration  of  eternity  is  indivisible  and  all 
at  once."  Bishop  Beveridge  says,  "God  is  Himself  eternity — eternity 
without  time."  Spinoza  says,  "By  eternity  I  understand  abstract 
existence."  Thomas  Erskine  says,  "I  think  eternal  means  essential 
in  opposition  to  phenomenal."  This  is  all  natural  metaphysics  and 
has  no  bearing  on  the  Bible  use  of  "eonian," 

Here  is  a  hint  that  if  followed  up  would  have  done  much  to  clear 
the  question  of  its  apparent  difficulty.  "The  Jews  had  never  faced 
the  abstract  conception  of  endlessness."  It  is  beyond  our  finite  grasp. 
The  conception  of  an  endless  straight  line  rather  than  a  cycle  may 
involve  a  sort  of  absurdity.  Professor  Challis  says,  "The  difficulty 
is  in  the  preconception  of  most  persons,  that  time  and  space  have 
an  independent  existence,  although  the  teaching  of  Scripture  is  op- 
posed to  this  view." 

Olam  in  connection  with  ad,  the  particle  or  the  noun;  Lewis  de- 
fines ad,  "transition  to,  arrival  and  going  beyond."  "It  is  an  addition 
to  olam,  which  could  not  then  mean  endless,  which  would  have  no 
'beyond.'  Isa.  45:  17  has  both  the  noun  and  the  preposition. 
Rev.  22:  5,  'the  eons  of  the  eons'  used  to  express  the  immeasurable, 
falls  short  as  a  conception  of  endless — yet  it  is  aiming  at  it."  Scripture 
words  should  not  be  charged  with  this  indefiniteness. 
5 


64  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Eccl.  3:14,  What  God  doeth  shall  be  finished  in  the  eons.  There 
is  no  adding  to  it — and  there  is  no  taking  from  it." 

Ps.  33:  II,  But  the  plans  of  the  LORD  last  for  the  eon,  the 
designs  of  His  heart  for  all  times  (to  generation  and  generation). 

Of  the  disciplinary  evils  to  be  brought  on  Israel,  Jeremiah  says 
(Jer.  23:40),  "And  I  will  bring  an  olamic  reproach  upon  you,  and 
an  olamic  shame,  which  shall  not  be  forgotten."  The  Septuagint 
has  eonian  reproach  (Rom.  15:3;  Matt.  5:  11,  27:44),  and  eonian 
dishonor,  vileness  (Rom.  1:26,  9:21),  and  Moses  says  (Deut. 
28:45,46),  "These  curses  shall  come  on  thee  and  pursue  thee  till 
thou  be  destroyed;  and  they  shall  be  upon  thee  for  a  sign,  and  upon 
thy  children  for  olam" 

Deut.  23 :  3-6,  Moab  and  Ammon,  They  shall  not  come  into  the 
congregation  of  the  Lord  ad  olam  (during  the  eon),  and  thou  shalt 
not  seek  their  peace  olam  (for  the  eon).  Ad  olam  is  more  commonly 
rendered  (LXX)  eos  tou  aionas,  till  the  eon,  as  in  Gen.  13:15; 
Josh.  4:4-7.  The  adjective  eonian  is  used  in  the  Septuagint  in 
Ex.12:  14,  17  of  the  Passover;  27:  21  of  the  tabernacle  service;  28:  43 
of  the  priestly  office  of  Aaron's  sons;  Lev.  6:  18  of  the  meat  offering, 
called  eonian  law. 

II  Cor.  4:  17,  "eonian,"  if  endless,  could  not  be  more  so  by  the 
words  huperbolen  eis  huperbolen,  surpassing  unto  surpassing,  or  ex- 
ceeding. 

The  resurrection  "life"  of  the  New  Testament,  and  the  fact  that 
there  shall  be  no  more  death,  may  involve  endlessness,  but  our  limited 
minds  are  incapable  of  comprehending  such  an  idea.  We  can  but 
follow  Scripture  and  be  content  with  its  negative  terms,  "not-finite," 
though  for  sake  of  convenience  we  may  use  "sempiternity"  as  a  crutch 
for  our  halting  speculations,  theories,  guesses. 

That  Ancient  Eon,  antediluvian,  must  have  heard  echoes  from 
Eden,  "Ye  shall  be  as  gods,"  and  man,  having  been  disappointed  in 
the  fruit  of  the  forbidden  tree,  fell  before  Satanic  agents  that  offered 
the  same  thing  under  conditions  becoming  more  and  more  evil. 

If  eonian  does  not  necessarily  mean  endless,  anyone  has  a  right  to 
reject  that  meaning.     Argument  built  on  this  meaning  collapses. 

"Le-Olam,  means  merely  a  long  time,  i.e.,  till  the  year  of  jubilee." 
(Ibn  Ezra.) 

Professor  Knapp,  of  Halle,  "The  Hebrew  was  destitute  of  any 
single  word  to  express  endless  duration.  The  pure  idea  of  eternity  is 


FIVE   EONS   OF    PROGRESSIVE   REVELATION  65 

too  abstract  to  have  been  conceived  in  the  early  ages  of  the  world, 
and  accordingly  is  not  found  in  any  of  the  ancient  languages" 
(O  Metaphysical  Modern,  have  you  conceived  the  idea,  or  only 
stolen  a  word?). 

Olshausen,  "The  Bible  has  no  expression  for  timelessness.  All 
the  biblical  terms  imply  or  denote  long  periods." 

Lexicographers  note  the  fact  that  it  was  not  until  after  the  fifth 
century  that  theologians  began  to  read  the  sense  of  endlessness  into 
Bible  words. 

Aidios, — Aristotle  and  Plato  used  it  of  endlessness,  but  in  the 
Bible  it  is  the  invisible.  This  might  meet  the  idea  of  Maurice  and 
metaphysicians. 

Enough  has  been  brought  to  view  to  justify  the  charge  of  error 
and  superficial  treatment  of  Scripture  in  the  defense  of  the  popular 
ideas  of  "eternity,"  and  to  spur  all  lovers  of  truth  to  give  more 
earnest  heed  to  all  that  has  a  bearing  on  the  subject. 


CHAPTER  V 
NATURAL  RELIGION 

Natural  Religion  results  from  the  efforts  of  all  sorts  and  conditions 
of  men  to  solve  the  problems  of  existence,  environment,  and  destiny 
without  the  help  of  any  Divine  teaching.  Anybody  can  formulate 
a  religion  for  himself.  The  Greeks  have  their  philosophy,  and  an 
unknown  God.  The  African  scares  his  spouse  with  a  Mumbo- 
Jumbo.  There  is  money  in  it.  These  religions  are  wide  of  the 
mark,  but  an  inch  of  a  miss  is  as  good  as  a  mile. 

There  is,  however,  a  natural,  reasonable  conclusion,  that  has 
Divine  approval.  If  any  man  comes  to  that  conclusion,  he  will  then 
be  met  with  some  authoritative  word  of  God  that  introduces  him  to 
a  new  relation.  The  natural  man  can  only  grope  until  God  comes  to 
his  aid.  We  see  a  discussion  of  it  in  Job.  Peter  recognizes  it  in  his 
address  to  Cornelius  (Acts  lo:  34,  35).  Paul  sets  forth  its  prin- 
ciples correctly  in  Rom.  i :  18  to  2:  16.  The  Preacher  in  Ecclesiastes 
gives  the  correct  issue  (Eccl.  12:  12,  13).  It  will  be  the  only  resource 
during  the  last  three  and  a  half  years  of  this  eon.  The  Angel  pro- 
claims it,  flying  in  mid-heaven,  in  language  like  that  of  Ecclesiastes. 
There  is  no  other  Gospel  then.  (Rev.  14:  7.)  The  elements  of  the 
human  problem  are: 

1.  A  son  of  Adam  capable  of  observing  and  reasoning. 

2.  The  visible  creation  in  constant  motion  and  change. 

3.  Law,  sin,  penalty. 

4.  Conscience. 

5.  An  intuitive  demand  that  justice  be  vindicated, —  and  there 
follows  the  apparent  necessity  for  a  future  existence  to  right  the 
wrongs  of  this  life,  therefore, — 

6.  The  immortality  of  the  soul  (apart  from  the  body, — made 
necessary  by  this  Platonic  reasoning), 

7.  Elysium  to  reward  the  good,  and  Tartarus  for  the  bad  is  the 
conclusion  of  the  majority. 

8.  Various  speculations  as  to  the  form  and  duration  of  these 
retributive  awards. 

Rom.  i:  18  to  2:  16,  The  invisible  power  and  divinity  indicated 
by  the  creation  should  lead  men  to  seek  God!  They  will  not  be 
disappointed  if  they  do,  for  God  is  seeking  them.    If  they  turn  away, 

66 


NATURAL    RELIGION  67 

they  suffer,  not  penalty  for  sin,  but  the  bitter  experiences  of  ignorance 
and  unbelief.  These  Gentiles  had  no  arbitrary  standard  of  right; 
"they  are  a  law  unto  themselves,  written  in  their  hearts,"  the  inner 
man,  which  approves  of  good  as  desirable,  whether  conscience  accuses 
or  excuses  the  outward  act.  (Rom.  2:  14,  15.)  If  justice  is  to  deal 
according  to  each  individual  case,  books  must  be  kept,  and  so  there 
is  a  recording  angel  provided.  Many  anticipate  that  in  balancing 
accounts  there  may  be  something  left  over  of  credits  or  debits,  which 
should  be  met  by  extra  awards  or  pains.  You  see  the  gospel  of 
superabundant  grace  is  not  allowed  in  this  philosophical  court  of  law. 

Given  these  factors,  and  the  most  gifted  philosophers  work  out 
endless  future  punishment  for  the  bad  as  a  necessary  antithesis  to  the 
duration  of  the  felicity  of  the  good.  This  pagan  reasoning  has  had 
a  world-wide  influence  on  thinking  men  for  some  2,200  years.  It  has 
been  grafted  into  Christianity  and  is  in  the  creeds  of  sects,  schools  of 
Divinity,  and  Bible  Institutes.  Indeed,  it  is  found  in  Egyptian 
theology;  but  Moses  was  taught  of  God,  and  when  the  covenant  of 
law  was  established,  it  was  accompanied  by  atonement. 

There  is  one  more  thing  that  plays  a  part  in  man's  religion.  God 
has  put  into  the  heart  of  man  the  expectation  of  better  things ;  other- 
wise despair  would  paralyze  all  effort.  The  Preacher  says  (Eccl.  3: 
10,  11),  "I  have  examined  the  endeavors  that  God  has  appointed 
for  the  children  of  Adam  by  which  to  develop  themselves.  He  hath 
made  everything  beautiful  in  its  season.  He  hath  also  placed  The  Eon 
in  their  minds,  yet  so  that  man  cannot  find  out  the  work  God  does 
from  beginning  to  end."  This  hope  is  voiced  in  the  song,  "There's 
a  good  time  coming,  boys,  wait  a  little  longer."  That  good  time  is 
the  Millennial  eon  that  men  indefinitely  hope  for.  But  God's  plan 
of  the  eons  is  hidden  from  all  possibility  of  discovery  by  man's  unaided 
powers.  It  is  a  spiritual  revelation  of  the  Gospel  of  grace  and  glory, 
that  God  alone  can  give,  and  that  faith  alone  can  receive.  "Faith 
comes  by  hearing  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God."  The  whole 
creation  groans,  but  hopes.     (Rom.  8:  18-23.) 

But  Natural  Religion  has  gone  astray.  Men  love  darkness  as  a 
cloak.  Its  vilest  conditions  are  recorded  in  Rom.  i:  18-32,  but  its 
more  dangerous  phase  is  its  religious  philosophy;  for  it  is  this  that 
has  vitiated  Christianity  from  the  second  century.  It  is  preached  in 
so-called  Christian  pulpits  today.  Given — man,  law,  sin,  an  uneasy 
conscience,  and  death  before  proper  rewards  and  penalties  vindicate 


68  CHRIST  VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

man's  intuitive  sense  of  justice, — and  philosophy,  following  Plato's 
lead,  will  work  out  the  necessity  of  a  future  existence  in  which  retri- 
bution shall  establish  the  right.  The  immortality  of  the  soul  thus 
becomes  a  necessary  doctrine.  Platonism  sees  no  resurrection  of  the 
body,  Neo-Platonism  mixes  in  some  ideas  got  from  Christianity,  but 
the  poison  remains.  The  Bible  Institute  of  Los  Angeles  publishes  a 
pamphlet  in  which  is  a  "statement  of  doctrine"  in  Fourteen  Articles, 
one  of  which  is  "The  Immortality  of  the  Soul,"  and  another  of  which 
is  "The  Endless  Punishment  of  the  Impenitent."  This  is  called  the 
common  creed  of  Evangelical  Christendom. 

"As  in  Adam  all  die"  (I  Cor.  15 :  22).  If  the  soul  and  spirit 
have  existence  between  death  and  resurrection,  whether  conscious  or 
unconscious,  it  is  through  and  in  the  risen  Christ,  "Who  only  hath 
incorruptibility."  Death  has  ended  the  old  Adam,  the  law,  the  sin, 
the  old  creation.  As  Christ  gave  Himself  a  ransom  for  all,  He  takes 
into  his  rightful  possession  and  care  the  body,  soul,  and  spirit  of 
every  man  when  the  Adamic  existence  goes.  It  is  only  on  this  basis 
that  spirit  can  be  conscious  in  Thanatos.  There  is  no  immortality 
in  the  Death  state  nor  in  resurrection  other  than  this  which  partakes 
of  the  New  Creation.  It  is  in  Christ  that  the  children  of  Adam 
"live  and  move  and  have  their  being."  "He  giveth  to  all  life  and 
breath  and  all  things."  When  Christ,  the  Head  of  the  old  creation, 
died,  that  was  the  end  of  Adam, — body,  soul,  spirit,  sin,  and  penalty. 
In  the  living  seed  of  the  Living  Word  is  the  only  possibility  of  future 
existence.  In  Adam,  Death  ends  all.  But  the  immortality  of  the 
sinful  Adamic  soul  is  logically  necessary  in  the  natural  argument  for 
endless  punishment  for  sin.  It  is  this  Adamic  soul  that  is  enmity  to 
God  and  that  is  not  subject  to  God,  neither  can  be.  The  butterfly 
is  a  life  out  of  death;  the  caterpillar  existence  ends.  There 
are  no  sinners  in  Thanatos.  He  that  is  dead  is  freed  from  sin. 
(Rom.  6:7.)  The  end  of  sin  is  death;  the  wages  of  sin  is  death 
(Jas.  1 :  15;  Rom.  6:  23).  Robert  Anderson,  though  an  advocate  of 
endless  punishment,  says,  "Where  in  Scripture  is  eternal  torment 
said  to  be  the  penalty  for  sin?"  But  are  not  all  men  to  appear  in 
judgment,  to  give  account,  to  receive  evil  for  evil  and  good  for  good? 
This  will  be  taken  up  in  Chapter  VII.  Suffice  to  say  that  resurrection 
should  be  kept  strictly  where  it  belongs  as  part  of  Divine  revelation. 
The  aim  of  this  chapter  is  to  keep  Natural  Religion  to  its  own  sphere, 
that  we  may  be  able  to  discern  what  is  of  man  and  what  is  of  God. 


NATURAL    RELIGION  69 

The  Dean  of  the  Chicago  Bible  Institute  advocates  the  doctrine 
of  endless  penalty  for  sin,  using  Luke  16  for  his  text,  and,  strangely 
enough,  he  would  confirm  it  by  an  appeal  to  this  pagan  philosophy. 
He  says,  "Natural  religions  show  that  eternal  punishment  was  com- 
monly believed  and  taught  by  the  ancient  pagan  world.  The  wise 
men  of  paganism  had  no  revelation  but  that  of  nature,  but  apparently 
it  was  sufficient  to  impress  them  with  this  fact.  In  Egypt,  in  Persia, 
in  Greece  and  in  Rome  was  this  true.  Celsus,  a  Greek  philosopher 
of  the  second  century,  may  be  sufficient  to  quote,  who  asserted  that 
'from  of  old  it  was  the  universal  belief  that  the  wicked  shall  suffer 
endless  pains.'  "  Celsus  argued  that  Christianity  was  not  needed  if 
this  was  also  its  chief  doctrine!  Every  revelation  of  God  is  gospel, 
but  the  conclusions  of  Natural  Religion  are  based  on  law  and  its  execu- 
tion. Its  creator  is  no  Savior,  but  "justice"  is  the  name  which  it  places 
above  every  name  that  is  named,  and  they  piously  talk  of  "The  Great 
Moral  Governor  of  the  Universe."  This  is  a  filling  mouthful,  and 
it  might  pass  if  the  word  "moral"  was  omitted.  "Morality"  belongs 
to  the  law;  it  has  to  do  with  the  manners  of  a  man.  Godliness  is  a 
different  thing.  Adam  in  the  garden  had  the  created  righteousness 
of  a  man,  and  as  such  could  be  called  "manly."  But  he  did  not  have 
"godliness;"  that  was  offered  to  him  as  a  bait.  Now  godliness 
requires  a  knowledge  of  God,  a  walk  with  God,  but  how  can  two 
walk  together  if  they  be  not  agreed?  This  does  not  belittle  right- 
eousness; it  only  sees  it  in  its  proper  place.  "The  wrath  of  God  is 
revealed  from  Heaven  upon  all  ungodliness  and  unrighteousness  of 
men,"  two  things  (Rom.  i :  18).  It  was  because  of  Adam's  lack  of 
godliness,  and  ignorance  of  what  it  was,  that  he  was  allowed  to  lose 
his  perfect  manliness,  that  in  his  helplessness  he  might  seek  for  God. 
Universal  restoration  is  not  a  biblical  expression,  but  the  reconcilia- 
tion of  the  universe  is  found  in  Col.  i :  20.  The  Universe  is  ungodly, 
but  in  the  risen  Christ  it  is  learning  godliness. 

One  Dean  says,  "We  cannot  decide  this  [endless  penalty  for  sin] 
by  asking  what  the  majority  of  supposedly  reliable  theologians  believe, 
neither  can  we  decide  it  by  reasoning."  True,  nor  by  an  appeal  to 
natural  pagan  religions,  highly  philosophical  though  they  may  be. 
Their  teaching  is  the  genesis  of  the  belief.  This  development  of 
natural  reasoning  is  repeated  today  in  the  conscience  of  most  people 
who  have  no  knowledge  of  the  Gospel  of  God.  All  men's  consciences 
respond  to  law  naturally.    They  know  they  are  wrong ;  they  know  that 


70  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

all  law  must  have  a  penalty  for  violation;  they  have  believed  in  a 
future  life,  though  wrongly  supposing  immortality  to  be  in  Adam; 
they  have  made  the  penalty  for  sin  hell,  and  the  reward  for  righteous- 
ness, heaven.  All  this  apart  from  any  Bible  revelation.  There  was 
some  knowledge  of  truth  to  begin  with,  but  it  was  perverted,  and 
perversion,  from  Babel  of  Genesis  to  Babylon  of  the  Unveiling,  is 
the  special  evil  of  "the  present  evil  eon"  (Gal.  1:4,  Rom.  i:  18). 
And  at  the  Great  White  Throne  the  Dead  will  be  there  ignorant  of 
Gospel,  and  unbelieving  in  truth  about  God,  believing  a  lie,  and  with 
a  fearful  looking  forward  to  the  penalty  which  they  logically  assume 
to  be  due.  They  do  not  know  God;  they  as  natural  know  only  the 
natural ;  they  do  not  believe  the  good  news  that  all  sin  was  put  away 
at  the  cross  (Heb.  9 :  26,  John  i :  29)  ;  that  God  is  not  charging  their 
sins  to  their  account  (II  Cor.  5 :  19).  They  are,  so  far  as  their  knowl- 
edge goes,  still  in  the  bondage  of  the  old  creation  and  the  law,  though 
both  were  done  away  in  the  death  of  Christ  (II  Cor.  5:  14,  3:7,  14). 

Natural  Religion  having  provided  an  immortal  Adamic  soul  to 
meet  retributive  justice  which  the  conditions  of  this  life  did  not 
satisfy,  then  gives  itself  to  the  consideration  of  appropriate  rewards 
and  punishments.  The  theory  demands  them  both,  but  graded,  to 
meet  all  degrees  of  character,  good,  bad  and  middling.  There  is  pro- 
vided an  Elysium,  Happy  Hunting  Grounds,  a  Heavenly  Harem  for 
the  righteous,  and  a  Tartarus  or  a  hell  of  some  sort  for  the  wrong-doer. 

"In  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive,"  and  while  a  "never-dying,  sin- 
ful soul"  who  was  excluded  from  the  benefits  of  the  Savior's  work 
might  be  conceived  of  as  suffering  for  endless  sin  endlessly,  yet  if  it  is 
made  alive  in  Christ,  there  is  hope ;  for  how  can  one  think  of  eternal 
misery  in  Christ?  And  there  it  is,  "so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made 
alive."  Now  give  Luke  20:  36  its  due  weight,  "and  they  are  sons  of 
God,  being  sons  of  the  resurrection."  Where  does  the  doctrine  come 
from  that  the  wicked  dead  shall  be  raised,  judged  as  sinners,  and  sent 
to  suffer  endless  penalty  for  sin  ?  I  repeat  Anderson's  question.  Where 
in  Scripture  is  endless  torment  said  to  be  the  penalty  for  sin?  First, 
"endless"  must  be  justified  as  a  rendering  for  eonian ;  second,  it  must 
be  shown  that  death  is  not  the  penalty  for  sin,  and  that  no  penalty 
for  sin  has  been  inflicted  personally  or  vicariously;  third,  that  Jesus, 
to  whom  all  judgment  has  been  committed,  is  to  endlessly  inflict  the 
punishment,  as  the  good  old  divine,  Boston,  described  it,  "holding  the 
sinner  with  one  hand  while  he  torments  him  with  the  other,"  for 


NATURAL    RELIGION  7 1 

this  sufferer  exists  only  "in  Christ."  A  conception  so  strange  and 
incongruous  that  its  evidently  overdone  attempt  to  horrify  is  an 
antidote  for  its  obscenity!     It  gives  it  an  air  of  unreality. 

Here  is  how  the  philosophers  reason: 

Dr.  Cesare  Lombroso,  "The  force  which  has  created  man,  being 
intelligent,  must  follow  its  work  of  order  and  organization  beyond 
the  narrow  limits  of  nature,  which  are  known  to  us  by  the  senses; 
viz.,  the  source,  order  and  justice  which  must  repair  the  inequalities 
of  life." 

Professor  Selo,  "There  is  an  intelligent  principle  in  control  of 
the  Universe.  This  is  the  only  solution  that  satisfies  the  mind.  (Rom. 
1:20,  aidios,  invisible.)  Occult  phenomena  are  the  only  direct  evi- 
dence of  immortality.  There  are  facts,  though  shadowed  by  doubt. 
Man  has  always  held  that  he  could  communicate  with  the  dead.  We 
may  fairly  conjecture  that  we  may  be  on  the  verge  of  something  like 
a  demonstration  that  individual  consciousness  does  survive  the  death 
of  the  body  by  which  it  was  nurtured." 

Prof.  H.  L.  Hartzog,  "The  soul  continues  to  exist  because  Science 
teaches  that  nothing  can  be  annihilated." 

Pascal,  "The  immortality  of  the  soul  is  a  matter  that  concerns  us 
so  much,  that  afifects  us  so  deeply,  that  we  must  have  lost  all  senti- 
ment if  its  investigation  leaves  us  indifferent." 

Adam's  knowledge  of  Jehovah  was  natural,  not  spiritual ;  that  is, 
he  recognized  in  the  brief  period  of  Jehovah's  presence  the  first  prin- 
ciple of  Natural  Religion,  which  is  that  the  Creator  should  be  given 
due  deference.  But  instead  of  seeking  revelation  in  the  school  of 
Divine  Wisdom,  he  turned  to  the  school  of  experience,  and  slaved 
to  meet  its  expenses.  Wisdom's  house  of  seven  pillars  was  ready. 
The  fear  of  the  Lord  was  the  initiation,  the  tree  of  life  was  there; 
but  law  was  there,  and  penalty,  and  sin,  and  discipline,  a  long,  long, 
weary  way  around  the  circle  to  get  back  to  where  he  started,  that  he 
might  be  taught  of  God.  His  education  is  yet  to  begin,  we  may  infer 
from  Scripture.  But  Abel  entered.  He  saw  no  use  to  follow  the 
natural  religious  wandering  of  his  father.  He  ceased  to  reason,  he 
shut  his  mouth,  he  went  to  Wisdom's  door,  and  was  accepted.  Here 
was  "the  beginning  of  wisdom"  for  Abel.  He  did  not  go  very  far 
on  earth,  but  when  Christ  Jesus  ascended  and  led  captivity  captive, 
Abel  was  placed  where  he  had  the  best  of  facilities  for  finishing  his 
education.     Natural  religionists  have  nearly  all  followed  Adam  and 


72  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Cain.  They  have  turned  from  the  Tree  of  Life,  and  have  all  gone 
astray.  They  labor  and  are  heavy  laden ;  they  work,  they  strive,  they 
groan,  they  agonize;  they — but  the  history  of  6,000  years  is  full  of 
what  they  have  done,  and  where  are  they  today?  Toiling,  hopeless, 
deceived  and  deceiving,  failures  in  government,  in  religion,  and  in 
their  man-made  gods  of  Science,  Business,  Morality,  Uplift;  with 
temperance  societies,  Sabbath-observance  societies,  anti-swearing,  anti- 
cigarette  vows,  Endeavorers,  Knights,  Leagues  of  kiddies  and  of 
nations,  covenants,  pledges,  promises,  prayers,  fastings,  etc.,  etc.  They 
go  right  on.  They  do  not  believe  that  Jesus  is  coming  to  set  aside  all 
this  human  scrap,  and  to  bring  in  effective  government,  religion,  and 
science.  Natural  religionists  should  all  imitate  Abel,  and  listen  to 
Divine  teaching.  "O  fools  and  slow  of  heart  to  believe."  Wisdom 
hath  builded  her  house ;  she  hath  set  up  the  seven  pillars  thereof,  and 
the  first  pillar  is  "the  fear  of  Jehovah,"  the  Creator.  Why  not  be 
saved  and  come  to  the  knowledge  of  God? 

The  poets  revel  in  the  ideas  of  Natural  Religion: 

Joy,  shipmate,  joy! 
(Pleased,  to  my  soul,  at  death,  I  cry.) 
Our  life  is  closed,  our  life  begins. 
The  long,  long  anchorage  we  leave. 
The  ship  is  clear!     At  last,  she  leaps! 
She  swiftly  courses  from  the  shore; 
Joy,  shipmate,  Joy! 

— IVhitman. 

Did  you  think  Life  was  so  well  provided  for,  and 
Death,  the  purport  of  all  Life,  is  not  well  provided  for? 
Life,  life  is  the  tillage,  and  Death  is  the  harvest  according. 

— Whitman. 

Still  seems  it  strange  that  thou  should'st  live  forever? 
Is  it  less  strange  that  thou  should'st  live  at  all? 
This  is  a  miracle,  and  that  no  more. 

— Young. 

L.  Bocle,  "Life  forces,  and  in  particular  the  human  soul,  should 
be  considered  as  analogous  (to  physical)  forces;  they  participate  in 
the  permanency  of  these  forces,  and  are  capable  perhaps  of  transfor- 
mation after  death,  but  are  not  destructible."  Should  it  be  said  that 
the  transformation  might  affect  the  consciousness.  Answer:  "That  is 
necessarily  recovered,  as  all  the  doings  and  acts  of  our  life  are  regis- 
tered in  the  Universe!     The  rays  which  have  been  the  witness  of 


NATURAL    RELIGION  73 

these  doings  and  acts  carry  them  away  to  celestial  space,  where  one 
can  find  again  the  image  of  deeds  accomplished  many  years  ago  (pho- 
tographed, filmed,  reeled,  words  phonographed  on  starry  discs). 
Nothing  is  lost  in  nature,  and  less  than  all  other  forces  the  soul,  which 
is  the  author  of  deeds  and  acts  thus  preserved ;  it  seems  therefore  at 
a  certain  moment  of  its  evolution  the  soul  ought  to  be  able  to  recall 
memories  of  the  present  life  should  they  have  been  effaced  [Son  re- 
member, Luke  i6],  and  in  this  lies  the  principal  element  of  reward 
or  punishment  in  the  ultra-terrestrial  life!" 

Law  is  the  prime  element  in  Natural  Religion.  Jehovah's 
covenant  with  Israel  at  Sinai  is  on  the  basis  of  law.  The  7th  day 
is  the  seal  of  that  covenant,  "for  in  six  days  Jehovah  made  heavens 
and  earth,  the  sea  and  all  that  in  them  is."  Creation  is  the  evidence 
for  Natural  Religion,  So  Jehovah  preaches  creation  to  Job  through 
four  chapters  and  produces  the  result  intended,  that  is  "the  fear  of 
the  Lord."  This  also  is  the  result  in  Eccl.  12:  13,  Acts  10:  34,  35, 
Rom.  1 :  18  to  3:  20,  especially  2:6-11,  Rev.  14:  7. 

But  the  Tree  of  Life  is  seen  in  the  first  word  of  the  Decalog, 
"I  am  Jehovah  thy  God,  who  brought  thee  out  of  the  land  of  Egypt, 
out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  So  here,  revealed  religion  and  Natural 
Religion  meet.  The  end  of  the  law,  after  which  it  is  "done  away,"  is 
"the  fear  of  the  Lord,"  and  natural  religion  goes  with  it.  For  "this 
fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom."  Man  should  then  put 
away  his  alphabetical  blocks  and  learn  to  read.  Israel  would  not  do 
this,  and  Christendom  joins  them  in  their  infantile  religious  games. 

When  Jehovah  gives  Israel  the  second  tables,  an  advance  is  made, 
as  is  ever  the  way  in  the  Divine  pedagogy.  Revealed  religion  takes 
the  place  of  natural  in  this  one  respect;  the  seal  of  the  Sabbath  now 
appeals,  not  to  the  visible  creation,  but  to  the  redemptive  work  of 
Jehovah,  which  calls  not  for  logic,  but  for  faith.  Many  professed 
believers  express  doubt  of  that  deliverance. 

But  Jehovah's  covenant  with  Abraham  starts  out  on  the  basis  of 
faith ;  it  takes  in  resurrection  on  the  ground  of  a  spiritual  perception 
of  God.  The  law  and  the  discipline  of  the  law  was  added  because  of 
unbelief!  This  incident  of  law  ended  with  the  crucifixion.  This 
legal  lesson  was  taught  even  in  Eden,  and  it  is  profitable  if  recognized 
as  elementary,  and  that  believers  are  called  to  a  gospel  revelation 
"apart  from  law."  Nothing  condemns  the  theologians  who  furnish 
these  kaleidoscopic  and  ^chameleonic  views  of  eschatology  more  than 


74  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

the  almost  universal  appeal  to  law.  This  appeal  is  made  by  advocates 
of  all  kinds  of  ideas  from  hell-fire  for  infants,  through  conditional 
immortality,  up  to  universal  Restoration.  The  latter  bear  some 
Gospel  testimony,  but  the  truth  in  Scripture  language  is  "The  Recon- 
ciliation of  the  Universe!"  (Col,  i :  20)  in  Grace. 

The  law^  condemns, — the  end  of  the  law  is  death, — "He  that  is 
dead  is  free  from  law" — and  from  any  further  penalty.  But  where 
is  the  writer  on  the  question  who  recalls  to  us  the  act  which  Jehovah 
has  in  reserve  in  connection  with  His  famous  contract  with  Israel? 
Why  deny  or  ignore  the  certainty  that  in  its  appointed  time 
Deut.  30:  6  will  show  the  desirability  of  having  for  the  party  of  the 
first  part  One  who  says,  "Jehovah  thy  God  will  circumcise  thy  heart 
and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thy  heart, 
and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live"?  "And  so  all  Israel 
shall  be  saved."  The  contortional  arguments  by  which  zealous 
legalists  attempt  to   belittle  and  minimize  these   Divine  statements 

would  indicate  that  they  endorse  the ology  (How  can  we  call  it 

Theology?)  which  demands  the  misery  of  the  damned  to  insure  their 
own  heavenly  happiness.  So  wrote  the  great  theologians,  St.  Thomas 
Aquinas,  and  Peter  Lombard  the  Master  of  the  sentences,  and  Luther, 
and  Jonathan  Edwards,  and  Boldicke,  Andrew  Welwood,  Samuel 
Hopkins,  Newcome  in  his  catechetical  sermons.  Why  not  add  birds 
of  a  feather, — Nero,  Caligula,  Phalares,  Mohammed,  in  Koran  83. 
There  are  those  today  who  have  so  little  mind  of  their  own  that  they 
will  adopt  this  blankological  language,  and  imagine  that  they  believe  it. 
Awake!  thou  that  sleepest,  and  arise  from  among  these  dead  ones, 
and  Christ  will  illuminate  you!     (Eph.  5:  14.) 

Is  this  Jehovah  God  of  the  Jews  only?  asks  the  Hebrew  of 
Hebrews,  of  the  tribe  of  Benjamin,  Pharisee  of  the  Pharisees;  and 
in  the  power  of  the  Divine  Spirit  answers,  "He  is  the  God  of  Gentiles 
as  well!"  Thus  does  Paul  enlarge;  he,  himself,  is  of  the  elect,  but 
he  does  not  limit  grace  to  himself.  "Saved  by  grace"  is  sung  by  many 
who  rejoice  in  it  as  all  right  for  themselves,  but  fear  to  proclaim  it 
freely,  lest  others  abuse  it. 

"Israel  is  my  first-born,"  says  Jehovah,  and  Messiah  is  an  integral 
part  of  Israel,  even  its  very  Head.  Now  though  the  First-born  has 
honors  and  privilege  he  has  official  responsibilities  also,  and  God's 


NATURAL    RELIGION  75 

dealing  with  Israel,  minutely  detailed,  is  a  sample  of  his  method  with 
others.     (Ex.  4:  23  ;  I  Tim.  1:15,  16.) 

Ezek.  18:  4,  Behold!    All  souls  are  mine. 

Ezek.  17:  15,  Shall  he  break  the  covenant  and  yet  escape? 

Ezek.,  Eighteenth  Chapter. 

The  mind  moves  easily  along  these  natural  lines  of  reasoning. 
It  is  inclined  to  take  the  path  of  least  resistance.  If  our  spirits  are 
to  be  taueht  by  the  Supreme  Spirit,  there  must  be  death  to  the  flesh. 
The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit.  Is  it  not  common  in  a  believer's 
experience  to  be  but  little  troubled  by  his  indulgence  in  natural  reli- 
gion, though  it  grieves  the  Holy  Spirit;  while  he  is  overwhelmed  with 
shame  by  some  fleshly  action?  The  SPIRIT  of  the  new  man,  if 
awake,  if  exercised,  lusts  against  these  legal  intoxications — "bewitch- 
ings"  Paul  calls  them.  Again,  let  the  new  man  awake  to  this,  and  put 
off  the  old  man  with  his  beggarly  elements  of  natural  religion  gone 
astray. 

Job  35 :  10,  Where  is  God,  my  Maker?  Who  giveth  songs  in  the 
night;  who  teacheth  us  more  than  the  beasts  of  the  earth,  and  maketh 
us  wiser  than  the  bird  of  the  heavens? 

Job  36:  22,  Who  is  a  teacher  like  unto  Him?  saith  Elihu. 

Job  37:  13,  for  correction    .    .     . 

Job  26:  14: 

"Look!     The  Raphaim — under  the  Dead  Sea!     Sheol! 

Abaddon !    The  Northern  Expanse !    The  suspended  earth ! 

The  water  filled  clouds !    The  throne  behind  the  black  cloud ! 

The  circuits  of  darkness  and  light!    The  trembling  air! 

The  raised  up  sea!    The  winds!     The  whirling  serpent!* 

Look!    These  are  a  part  of  his  ways, — 

But  of  Him!  we  hear  but  a  whisper. 

For  who,  the  voice  of  His  thunder  can  stand?" 
Men  experience  the  evil,  pain,  and  penalty  in  this  life.  The 
universal  conscience  pleads  guilty.  Rewards  and  punishments  inade- 
quate to  the  universal  sense  of  justice  demand  a  continued  existence 
that  each  and  every  person  and  act  shall  receive  that  which  is  due. 
Several  factors  must  be  taken  into  account  if  we  are  to  attain  to  a 
right  view  of  this  topic.  Most  writers  on  the  subject  confine  them- 
selves to  the  strictly  legal  phase,  and  come  to  the  conclusions  of 
philosophical  natural  religion.  But  revealed  truth  should  be  allowed 
to  decide  in  all  cases  by  one  who  would  show  the  obedience  of  faith. 


'The  constellation  Draconis. 


CHAPTER  VI 
SIN'S  PENALTY  PAID  ONCE  FOR  ALL 

If  what  is  said  of  the  eons  in  Chapter  IV  is  true,  there  is  no 
endless  penalty  for  sin  to  be  considered.  As,  however,  the  common 
teaching  of  all  human  religions,  pagan  and  Christian,  is  to  the  effect 
that  in  the  indefinite  future  there  is  to  be  a  grand  universal  assize, 
a  criminal  court,  passing  judicial  verdicts  which  award  the  felicities 
of  some  kind  of  heaven  in  graduated  degrees  to  the  good,  the  right- 
eous, the  holy;  and  condemning  the  bad,  the  sinner,  and  the  vile  to 
the  various  pains  and  penalties  of  some  kind  of  a  hell;  it  will  be 
necessary  to  show  that  this  is  not  Scriptural  if  the  main  contentions 
of  this  book  are  to  be  justified.  That  the  general  belief  is  fairly, 
though  briefly,  stated  above  will  be  conceded  by  nearly  all  the  pro- 
fessors of  these  religions.    Quotations  follow  to  emphasize  this  fact: 

"Keep  in  our  minds  a  lively  remembrance  of  that  great  day  in 
which  we  must  give  a  strict  account  of  our  thoughts,  words,  and 
actions,  and  according  to  the  works  done  in  the  body  be  eternally 
rewarded  or  punished  by  Him  whom  thou  hast  appointed  the  Judge 
of  quick  and  dead,  thy  Son  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord." — Episcopal 
Prayer-Book. 

"From  Thy  wrath,  and  from  everlasting  damnation,  good  Lord 
deliver  us." — Litany. 

"The  souls  of  believers  are,  at  their  death,  made  perfect  in  holi- 
ness, and  do  immediately  pass  into  glory,  and  their  bodies  being  still 
united  to  Christ,  do  rest  in  their  graves  till  the  resurrection.  At  the 
resurrection,  believers,  being  raised  up  in  glory,  shall  be  openly  ac- 
knowledged and  acquitted  in  the  day  of  judgment,  and  made  perfectly 
blessed  in  full  enjoying  of  God  to  all  eternity."  "The  souls  of  the 
wicked  are  at  death  cast  into  hell,  and  their  bodies  kept  in  their  graves 
till  the  resurrection  and  judgment  of  the  great  day."  "At  the  day 
of  judgment,  the  wicked  shall  be  cast  into  hell,  to  be  punished  for- 
ever."— Westminster  Catechisms  and  Confession. 

"We  conclude,  then,  that  the  proclamation  of  grace  in  the  gospel 
is  final,  and  that  the  destiny  of  all  who  either  receive  or  reject  the 
message  is  fixed  in  this  life.  At  death,  the  unbeliever  passes  hence  to 
await,  not  his  trial,  but  his  sentence.  Further,  the  judgment  of  the 
great  day  will  be  irreversible.    The  righteous  Judge  will   impose 

76 


SIN  S    PENALTY    PAID    ONCE    FOR    ALL  77 

sentence  on  each,  according  to  the  degree  and  nature  of  his  guilt." 
— Robert  Anderson. 

Professor  Shedd  says,  concerning  original  sin,  regeneration  and 
vicarious  atonement,  that  the  latter  "is  most  incompatible  of  any  with 
universal  salvation ;  because  universal  salvation  implies  remedial 
suffering  only,  while  vicarious  atonement  implies  that  it  is  retributive. 
Suffering  that  is  merely  educational  does  not  require  a  vicarious 
atonement  in  order  to  release  from  it.  But  suffering  that  is  judicial 
and  punitive  can  be  released  from  the  transgressor  only  by  being 
inflicted  upon  a  substitute." 

If  you  have  time  just  analyze  this.  It  will  be  quite  a  mental 
stunt.  ( I )  It  assumes  that  "hell"  is  the  penal  verdict  of  the  Judge. 
(2)  Then  vicarious  atonement  by  a  substitute  releases  from  that 
penalty.  (3)  Why  not  begin  with  the  cross  as  the  end  of  all  penalty 
for  sin?  (4)  Why  not  recognize  that  "death"  is  the  only  Scripture 
penalty?  (5)  Why  mix  up  legal  penalty  and  educational  discipline? 
(6)  The  answer  must  be  that  a  theologian  must  be  profound  if  he 
is  nothing  else. 

Professor  Shedd  says,  "He  who  denies  that  he  deserves  eternal 
death  cannot  be  saved  from  it  so  long  as  he  persists  in  his  denial. 
If  his  denial  is  the  truth,  he  needs  no  salvation.  If  his  denial  is  error, 
the  error  prevents  penitence  for  sin,  and  this  prevents  pardon.  No 
error  consequently  is  more  fatal  than  that  of  Universalism.  (i)  It 
blots  out  the  attribute  of  retributive  justice.  (2)  Transmutes  sin  into 
misfortune.  ( 3 )  Turns  all  suffering  into  chastisement.  (4)  Converts 
the  piacular  work  of  Christ  into  moral  influence.  (5)  And  makes  it 
a  debt  due  to  man  instead  of  an  unmerited  boon  from  God."  These 
five  counts  are  just  as  false,  or  just  as  true,  of  both  partial  and  uni- 
versal salvation. 

The  Professor  says  "that  as  early  as  A.  D.  250,  the  question  was 
raised,  whether  the  suffering  to  which  Christ  sentences  the  wicked 
is  for  the  purpose  of  correcting  and  educating  the  transgressor,  or 
of  vindicating  and  satisfying  the  LAW  he  has  broken,  a  question 
which  is  the  key  to  the  whole  controversy." — No!  The  key  does 
not  fit.  Is  this  not  a  more  pertinent  question.  Did  Christ  put  away  sin 
once  for  all  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself?  If  He  did,  the  penalty 
was  paid.  How,  then,  can  suffering  of  any  length  or  intensity  be 
called  upon  to  vindicate  justice  which  Christ  Himself  fully  vindicated? 
Is  the  grace  of  God  to  be  made  void?    Not  by  me,  says  Paul. 


78  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Dean  Gray  says  of  the  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall  die,  "this  means 
that  the  wages  of  sin  is  death  (Rom.  6:  23).  Death,  however,  is  not 
annihilation,  or  non-existence,  but  existence  in  a  state  of  conscious 
eternal  punishment."  "The  wicked  now  charge  God  with  unfairness 
very  often,  and  they  must  have  an  opportunity  to  see  beyond  question 
this  is  not  true.  It  is  due  to  God  that  they  should  see  this  and  con- 
fess it,  and  doubtless  it  will  constitute  part  of  their  moral  torment 
throughout  eternity."  (Must  see  it?  But  why  is  it  not  salvation 
to  thus  see  God?) 

"Shallow  views  of  the  heinousness  of  sin,"  "Loose  doctrine,"  and 
all  kinds  of  slurring  words  are  in  print.  There  are  shallow  views  of 
sin,  and  of  very  many  other  things ;  are  there  not  shallow  views  of  the 
character  of  God,  and  of  the  efficiency  of  the  work  of  Christ? 
Retribution  for  sin  is  demanded  on  all  sides;  but  again, — and  again, — 
Where  is  justice  fully  established  in  the  sight  of  God?  At  Calvary, 
once  for  all,  or  in  an  endless  hell?  Endless?  How  can  justice  be 
satisfied  if  the  penalty  is  never  fully  paid?  Did  not  the  resurrection 
of  Christ  seal  the  fact  that  justification  of  the  sinner  and  the  ungodly 
was  an  accomplished  fact?     (Rom.  4:25.) 

Is  Christ  Jesus  unable  to  cope  with  sin,  so  that  it  will  never  cease 
to  be?  Is  the  law  and  its  death  penalty  to  exist  when  "there  shall  be 
no  more  death"?  (Gal.  i:  10,  13;  Rev.  21:4.)  Is  God,  with  all 
Divine  wisdom  and  power  concentrated  in  the  risen  Son  of  God, 
unable  to  bring  to  bear  motives  that  will  change  a  limited  creature's 
will  without  violating  his  freedom?  In  fact,  has  not  this  been  done 
from  Abel  down  to  the  last  believer,  let  us  say  even  in  your  own  case? 

It  is  amazing  to  see  how  these  unscriptural  ideas  are  intrenched 
in  nominally  Christian  institutions,  even  after  you  recognize  that  all 
religious  institutions  have  been  enemies  of  spiritual  Truth.  Note  the 
many  contradictory  teachings  about  the  responsibility,  the  penalties, 
the  course,  the  degrees,  and  end,  of  sin.  Note  the  disagreement  as 
to  forgiveness,  repentance,  retribution ;  and  as  to  purgation  and  holi- 
ness, how  some  see  it  as  an  instantaneous  act  of  God;  and  others 
make  it  a  gradual  work,  complete  or  incomplete  in  a  man's  lifetime; 
and  then  purgatory  which  may  or  may  not  fit  a  man  for  Heaven 
before  their  case  is  called  for  trial.  It  is  also  taught  that  purging  is 
possible  before  death,  and  in  the  intermediate  state,  and  even  after  the 
sentence  of  the  great  judgment  day  has  been  pronounced;  and  this 
purifying  is  through  the  agency  of  suffering,  both  disciplinary  and 


SIN  S    PENALTY    PAID    ONCE    FOR    ALL  79 

penal.  It  is  taught  that  there  is  "eternal  hope"  for  some,  if  not  for  all. 
Some  would  even  teach  annihilation.  But  pains  and  penalties  can 
never  take  the  place  of  that  which  is  called  the  wisdom  and  power  of 
God  unto  salvation. 

The  wrath  of  God,  of  the  Lamb,  in  the  Day  of  Wrath,  is  very 
inappropriately  ascribed  to  the  Great  Judge,  at  the  Great  Assize,  when 
men  are  to  be  tried  before  the  bar  of  God.  We  are  taught  that  justice 
should  be  administered  without  bias,  without  passion,  in  strict  accord 
with  legal  principles  and  procedure.  But  this  misplacing  of  "wrath" 
gives  us  the  idea  that  the  case  is  prejudged,  and  that  the  formality  of 
a  trial  is  a  farce. 

If  Scripture  gives  us  nothing  definite  we  may  drop  all  effort  and 
cry  "Kismet."    Let  us  search  and  see  if  these  things  be  so. 

1.  I  John  3 :  4,  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law. 
Rom.  3 :  20,  By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin. 
Rom.  7 :  8,  Without  the  law  sin  was  dead. 

2.  This  is  clear.     Now  another  point. 

Gal.  3:13,  Christ  has  redeemed  us  from  the  curse  of  the  law. 
John  1 :  29,  Behold  the  Lamb  of  God  that  beareth  away  the 

sin  of  the  world!   (to  fulfil  the  purpose  of  the  eons). 
Heb.  9:26,  Now,  once  for  all,  in  the  ends  of  the  eons,  hath 

He  been   manifested   to  put   away  sin  by  the  sacrifice   of 

Himself. 
II  Cor.  5:19,  Not  charging  unto  them  (the  world)  their  sins. 
I  Peter  2 :  24,  Who,  Himself,  bore  our  sins  in  His  own  body 

on  the  tree.     (Peter's  apostleship  is  to  Israel.     Here  he  is 

setting  forth  the  reality  of  what  the  scapegoat  of  the  law 

did  ceremonially.) 

Why  is  not  this  the  end  of  the  sin  question?  How  is  it  that  so 
many  believers  hold  that  sins  are  to  come  up  at  some  future  day? 
Easy  enough  if  they  continue  to  shuffle  up  texts  and  read  them  thus 
misplaced.  Parables?  Yes,  but  all  parables  deal  with  the  Kingdom 
and  have  little  if  any  application  beyond  the  Millennial  eon. 

They  speak  of  servants,  and  their  rewards  and  punishment,  but 
all  these  are  temporary  acts  of  discipline.  Whatever  they  were,  it 
does  not  make  void  the  Gospel  that  "sin  is  not  charged"  and  no  future 
evil  experience  can  be  penalty  for  broken  law.  When  the  Lamb  of 
God  bore  aw^ay  the  sin  of  the  world,  He  bore  it  all  away, — not  your 
sins  up  to  date,  with  a  running  account  up  to  the  hour  and  article 
of  death.  No  act  of  sin  will  ever  be  the  cause  of  condemnatory 
6 


8o  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

sentence.  Yes  ?  Yes  ?  We  have  heard  the  objection  to  the  preaching  of 
grace  over  and  over  again.  Paul  anticipated  it  and  gave  the  answer  in 
Romans  6.  Yes,  Mr.  Caviler,  Paul  wrote  to  believers,  and  you  object 
to  the  proclamation  to  sinners  of  the  old  creation!  Well,  Scripture 
says  that  the  natural  man  receiveth  not  the  things  of  the  spirit,  and 
the  natural  man  will  not  believe  this  Divine  proclamation,  that  "sin 
is  not  charged  to  them ;"  their  conscience  is  uneasy  and  they  know 
that  punishment  awaits  them  for  their  sins.  But  suppose  these  sinners 
should  believe  that  all  sin  was  put  away  at  the  cross  long  before  they 
were  born,  and  that  sins  never  have  been  and  never  will  be  charged 
to  their  account?  Why!  They  would  be  saved!  Do  you  not  so 
preach  the  gospel  ?  believing  it  to  be  the  wisdom  of  God  and  the  power 
of  God  unto  salvation ;  to  be  experienced  upon  belief,  but  to  be  true 
since  Christ  arose?  Or  do  you  preach  the  law  and  punishment  to 
the  ignorant  and  unbelieving?  There  may  be  texts  you  have  in  mind, 
but  they  do  not  contravene  this.  Just  consider  the  whole,  get  the 
harmony,  cease  to  distort  individual  passages. 

Take  John  i6:  8-i  i,  for  instance,  "Of  sin,  because  they  believe  not 
on  me."  Have  j'ou  preached  from  this  that  unbelief  is  the  unpardon- 
able sin,  as  the  Dean  of  a  Bible  Institute  does?  Read  it  again.  Who 
shall  the  Comforter  convict  of  sin? — Answer:  "The  World."  Why 
are  they  convicted  of  sin?  Because!  They  do  not  believe  the  gospel; 
they  do  not  believe  on  Me.  If  they  did  believe  they  would  have  no 
conscience  of  sin.  "Of  righteousness."  What  righteousness?  And 
why?  "Of  Judgment."  What  is  this?  Do  you  pervert  it  to  some 
judgment  day  to  come?  "Because  the  prince  of  this  world  has  been 
judged!"  Do  not  degrade  the  exalted  Savior  God 'to  the  limited 
sphere  and  action  of  the  judge  of  a  criminal  court.  See  Chapter  VII, 
on  Divine  judgment  according  to  Scripture. 

The  spiritual  power  of  the  so-called  Protestant  Reformation  has 
fizzled  out,  with  its  one  great  doctrine  of  the  righteousness  of  God 
still  in  the  creed,  but  not  in  the  obedience  of  faith,  nor  in  public 
testimony.  Christians  profess  their  belief  in  the  "gift"  of  life  based 
on  the  righteousness  of  God,  and  then  repeat  ad  libitum,  "Forgive  us 
our  sins,"  which  flatly  contradicts  their  profession.  This  gift  is  not 
any  man's  experience.  That  is  only  the  amount  of  his  intelligent 
perception  of  spiritual  things,  which  frequently  is  small.  No.  The 
Gospel  proclamation  of  God  is  true;  the  resurrection  of  Christ  con- 
firms its  reality.    It  is  a  thing  accomplished.    WHEN  a  man  believes 


sin's  penalty  paid  once  for  all  8 1 

it  he  experiences  it,  but  it  was  just  as  much  accomplished  before  his 
experience  as  after  it.  "It  is  finished."  "We  thus  judge  that  if 
Christ  died  for  all,  then  all  died."  This  is  an  accomplished  fact 
before  God.  Your  prompt  or  belated  perception  of  it  has  spiritual 
results,  but  it  does  not  fix  the  date  of  Christ's  finished  work.  This 
is  seen  and  accepted  by  faith  alone.  The  epistle  to  the  Galatians  is 
the  correction  for  legality  today,  as  much  as  when  Paul  wrote  it  or 
Luther  advocated  it.  It  is  astounding  the  almost  universal  use  of  the 
law  to  the  detriment  of  the  gospel,  both  for  and  against  endless 
penalty  for  sin.  There  are  no  criminals  before  God  today.  The  Head 
of  the  New  Creation  with  His  almighty  spiritual  power  is  dealing 
with  ignorance  and  unbelief.  These  prevent  fellowship  with  God, 
as  really  as  sin  does.  Sin  has  been  put  away  by  the  sacrificial  work  of 
Christ,  but  it  will  take  the  two  future  eons  to  deal  with  ignorance 
and  unbelief.  Not  the  sin  of  unbelief,  for  the  law  does  not  say,  "Thou 
shalt  believe."  It  says,  "Thou  shalt  love."  Belief  comes  on  the  basis 
of  evidence,  and  love  and  life  begin  with  it  and  continue  on  from  it; 
for  man  cannot  love  what  he  knows  nothing  about,  and  a  man  cannot 
believe  unless  the  object  or  the  evidence  is  before  him ;  and  we  know 
that  "faith  cometh  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  word  of  God." 
Faith  is  but  an  abstraction,  dead  until  an  object  is  presented,  and 
obedience  to  the  truth  is  exercised.  Volumes  are  written  on  human 
character,  which  can  all  be  boiled  down  to,  "Be  good  and  you  will 
be  happy ;"  which  is  the  veil,  thick  or  thin,  that  whenever  and  wherever 
used,  shuts  out  the  gospel  of  grace.  In  this  life,  exhortation  follows 
a  man  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  "Sow  a  thought,  reap  an  act; 
sow  an  act,  reap  a  habit;  sow  a  habit,  reap  a  character;  sow  a  char- 
acter, reap  a  destiny," — and  you  will  have  no  particular  use  for  the 
Savior  God. 

Men  are  to  purge  themselves  all  they  can  in  this  life.  They  pray 
that  they  may  "so  live"  that  they  may  come  to  be  fit  for  Heaven, 
and  if  they  die  with  a  half  and  half  holiness,  then,  perhaps,  they  will 
pass  through  refining  purgatorial  fires  in  the  intermediate  state;  and 
then,  perhaps,  they  will  be  fit, — and  perhaps  not.  If  the  court  certifies 
to  their  good  character,  they  enter  into  glory,  but  even  there  they 
will  require  some  polishing  lest  the  angels  outshine  them.  If  some 
are  so  bad  that  the  general  judgment  finds  that  life  and  purgatory 
still  leaves  them  publicans  and  sinners,  unfit  for  high  pharisaical 
society,  they  are  sen*-  to  various  degrees  of  Gehenna,  Tartarus,  or 


82 


CHRIST  VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 


Lake  of  Fire,  where  penal  pains  and  tortures  will,  some  say,  finally 
leave  a  purified  soul;  and  some  others  say,  No;  the  soul  gets  worse 
and  worse  and  the  torments  increase  in  intensity  and  ingenuity 
(though  the  ingenuity  is  largely  in  the  ghoulish  literary  glee  of  the 
Dantean  describer).  This  is  the  impression  given  by  many  authors, 
some  extracts  from  their  writings  being  printed  in  Chapter  X.  We 
can,  if  we  may,  soften  our  words  and  say  that  they  are  led  on  imagina- 
tively or  in  partizanship  to  say  more  than  they  would  stand  to  if 
challenged. 

It  is  the  Scripture  that  is  used  by  these  legalists  which  should  have 
our  careful  attention.  Has  the  word  of  truth  been  rightly  divided 
as  to  times,  persons,  character?  For  where  there  is  so  much  conflicting 
utterance  it  becomes  us  to  use  the  proper  tests  to  distinguish  Scriptural 
differences;  for  the  Book  of  Truth  must  somehow  accord  in  Divine 
harmony.  God  has  a  place  for  everything,  and  everything  must  find 
and  fit  its  place  in  due  time.  Eccl.  3 :  i,  11,  17,  "For  everything  there 
is  a  season,  and  a  time  for  every  purpose  under  heaven.  He  hath 
made  everything  beautiful  in  its  time.  I  said  in  my  heart.  God  will 
judge  the  righteous  and  the  wicked;  for  there  is  a  time  there  for  every 
matter  and  for  every  work."  One  distinction  to  be  recognized  is  that 
the  "world  (Greek,  eon)  to  come"  is  not  the  intermediate  state.  It  is 
the  definite  Millennial  reign  of  Christ. 


DIA.III. 
I. 


SEQUENCE   OF  EONIAN   EVENTS. 

11.  III.  IV.  V. 


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In  this  diagram  an  attempt  is  made  to  show  the  sequence  of  events 
referred  to.    The  numbers  are  here  explained: 

I,  2,  3.  The  theocratic  throne  in  heaven  is  that  indicated  by  the 
Tabernacle  of  the  Testimony,   the  throne  of  Jehovah  over  Israel, 


sin's  penalty  paid  once  for  all  83 

prepiier  of  the  nations.  The  plan  of  this  temporary  structure  was  a 
pattern  of  the  three  heavens.  The  Court  was  the  first  heaven  with 
the  earth  for  an  altar;  the  Holy  Place  with  light,  table,  incense-altar, 
was  the  second,  where  the  priests  were  mediate  between  Jehovah  and 
the  nation;  and  the  Most  Holy  Place  contained  the  Throne,  the 
mercy  seat,  the  testimony,  the  two  tables  of  the  national  constitution, 
Jehovah  party  of  the  first  part  Israel's  God  and  King,  and  the  whole 
people  party  of  the  second  part.  Eden,  the  garden,  and  the  two  trees 
in  the  midst,  was  also  of  this  pattern.  The  Temple  of  Solomon  also. 
The  future  temple  as  described  by  Ezekiel  gives  the  plan  only,  no 
elevations.  The  plan  was  to  be  shown  to  the  children  of  Israel  to 
shame  them.  Thus  the  plan,  if  understood,  was  symbolic  even  if 
the  design  should  not  be  carried  out.  The  Holy  City  will  have  the 
Lamb  Himself  who  is  the  fulfilment  of  all  these  building  types. 

This  throne  is  the  rainbow  throne  described  in  Revelations  4,  the 
symbol  connecting  it  with  the  Rainbow  Covenant  of  Gen.grS-iy.  Thus 
this  present  eon,  though  characterized  as  "evil"  down  here,  is  spanned 
by  a  governmental  bow  of  promise.  When  the  tribulation  of  the 
three  and  a  half  years  of  the  day  of  wrath  has  passed,  The  Sun  of 
Righteousness  arises,  and  shines  undimmed  for  a  thousand  years. 
The  special  "evil"  of  this  eon  is  the  perversion  of  the  truth  of  God. 
It  was  initiated  at  Babel  with  a  cunning  so  Satanic  that  Jehovah 
found  it  expedient  to  lay  a  restraining  hand  on  it,  lest  it  thwart  His 
own  purposes;  but  in  its  time  restraint  will  be  removed,  and  Babylon 
at  the  end  will  advertise  its  defiance  of  the  true  God  world  wide, 
only,  after  a  few  brief  years,  to  go  down  with  the  antichristian  hosts 
in  one  common  catastrophe. 

One  beauty  and  comfort  of  the  coming  eon  will  be  that  nothing 
but  truth  will  be  uttered,  and  it  will  be  accompanied  with  the  promised 
Pentecostal  gifts,  the  powers  of  the  eon  to  come.  The  resurrected 
Son  of  David  will  be  the  same  Theocratic  King  that  covenanted  with 
Israel  at  Sinai,  and  "He  shall  reign  not  only  for  the  next  eon,  but  for 
the  last  eon  also.  In  this  second  stage  He  will  reign  as  David's  Lord, 
in  the  full  unveiled  glory  of  his  Godhood,  finishing  the  work  begun 
when  as  creative  Word  He  was  "sent  forth"  (Isa.  55:  11).  At  that 
"finishing"  every  knee  shall  bow  in  happy  worship.  They  are  not  to 
be  envied  for  their  belief  who  would  make  the  future  worship  of 
the  Son  of  God  compulsory  on  the  part  of  ignorant  and  unbelieving 
rebels;  and  who  take  the  name  of  eternity  in  vain,  to  aggravate  it. 


84  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Messiah  is  said  to  be  a  priest  for  the  eon,  one  onh^  the  coming  one ; 
but  not  for  the  eons  as  the  term  of  kingship  is  said  to  be. 

4.  The  Grave  (Qedem),  "Thanatos"  of  the  New  Testament.  It 
is  the  result  of  Death,  and  as  personified  in  "The  Unveiling"  is  the 
state  of  Death,  not  the  act  of  dying. 

7  and  8.  Death  and  Hades  are  cast  into  the  Lake  of  the  Fire, 
This  is  the  end  of  them. 

5.  Hades,  the  underworld.  Here  the  souls  of  the  righteous  of 
the  Old  Testament  went  until  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ,  when 
they  were  delivered.  (Matt.  27  :  52,  53  ;  Eph.  4:8.)  These  are  the 
"saints"  that  are  with  Christ  when  He  comes;  they  are  with  Christ 
during  His  reign. 

9.  The  second  state  of  Thanatos  (personified).  Death  (nekros) 
requires  a  grave  of  earth  for  the  body.  Hades  (personified)  follows 
Death.  When  the  old  earth  flees  away  from  the  face  of  Jesus,  Son 
of  God  enthroned  (Rev.  20:  11),  there  remains  nothing  to  hide  body, 
soul,  or  spirit;  they  stand  naked  before  the  throne.  The  bodies  are 
material,  but  as  they  have  been  redeemed,  they  do  not  pass  away. 
These  are  the  same  dead  that  were  in  the  first  state  of  Thanatos. 
There  are  none  of  the  righteous  in  this  scene,  as  described. 

10.  The  Lake  of  the  Divine  Fire.  This  is  the  unveiled  glory 
of  God.     II.  Adam. 

12.  Enoch  does  not  die,  nor  do  those  last  living  members  of  the 
body  of  Christ  who  are  called  up  on  high.  (See  Col.  3:  1,2,  "Seek 
the  things  above  [ano],  where  Christ  is  sitting  at  the  right  hand  of 
God.  Set  jour  mind  on  the  things  that  are  above"  [cwo].  This  is 
"far  above  [huperano]  every  principality  and  authorit}^  and  power 
and  Lordship,  and  every  name  that  is  named,  not  only  in  this  eon, 
but  also  in  that  which  is  to  come."  On-high,  above,  to  which  place 
the  heavenly  body  of  Christ  is  called  [Phil.  3:  14,  tes  ano  kleseos], 
not  "the  air"  of  IThess.  4:  17,  to  which  saints  whose  hope  is  the 
earthly  Millennial  glory  are  caught  up  to  escape  the  tribulation.) 
There  was  no  heavenly  hope  known  of  or  proclaimed  when  Paul 
wrote  to  the  Thessalonians.  Their  Millennial  hope  was  the  "prior 
hope"  of  Eph.  i:  12  {pro-elpikotas,  pre-hoped,  not  pre-trusted). 
Those  who  thus  enter  the  kingdom  alive  see  no  death.  Others  also 
who  pass  through  the  tribulation  and  experience  the  eonian  life  of 
the  Millennium  see  no  death;  for  the  first  resurrection,  that  of  the 


sin's  penalty  paid  once  for  all  85 

just,  is  finished  when  Christ  comes  and  His  feet  touch  the  Mount 
of  Olives.     After  that  no  righteous  one  dies. 

13.  The  angels  that  sinned  in  the  days  of  Noah  were  cast  down 
to  Tartarus  and  committed  to  pits  of  darkness,  to  be  reserved  unto 
judgment  (II  Peter  2 :  4).  Tartarus  was  not  penal  therefore,  but 
only  a  place  of  confinement  until  the  time  came  when  pronouncement 
of  judgment  would  set  forth  every  issue  involved,  and  this  for  the 
enlightenment  of  His  creatures,  not  for  any  unworthy  motive  on  the 
part  of  the  One  under  whose  authority  the  whole  thing  was  to  be 
made  right.  They  are  in  eonian  bonds ;  that  is,  from  the  beginning 
to  the  end  of  this  present  eon.  Christ  went  and  made  a  proclamation 
to  these  spirits  (I  Peter  3 :  19).  The  demons  looked  forward  to  tor- 
ment in  their  own  proper  time.  It  was  not  in  the  humiliation  of  His 
earthly  years  that  He  was  to  deal  with  this  class,  nor  was  it  appar- 
ently the  time  for  dealing  with  the  angels  in  Tartarus.  As  far  as 
prophecy  had  declared,  the  time  might  be  at  the  end  of  that  generation, 
coming  next  in  order.  But  the  program  of  the  eons  up  to  this  time 
had  not  revealed  that  the  centuries  of  this  heavenly  dispensation  were 
to  interrupt  and  put  in  abeyance  certain  questions  that  were  to  be 
settled  in  the  eon  of  covenant  fulfilment.  Indeed  the  proclamation 
that  their  repentance  would  bring  immediate  realization  of  Messianic 
hopes  held  good  for  the  40  years  of  that  wicked  generation.  The 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  was  at  hand  until  the  last  political  remnant  of 
Israel  had  passed.  There  is  no  recognizing  Israel  now ;  the  Kingdom 
has  not  been  at  hand ;  the  sun  and  moon  that  mark  the  times  of  Israel 
have  stood  still  more  wonderfully  than  they  did  of  old,  over  Beth- 
horon.  Believers  of  this  dispensation  should  know  and  take  their 
assigned  place  and  look  at  all  revelation  from  it.  It  is  the  only  view- 
point from  which  they  can  see  all  these  eonian  things  in  their  proper 
relation. 

14,  15.  Covenants,  Abrahamic  and  Sinaitic. 

16.  Korah,  Dathan,  Abiram,  and  their  company  "went  down 
alive  into  Sheol"  (Hades).  Here,  at  least,  is  a  concrete  fact  con- 
cerning Hades.  Bodies,  souls,  and  spirits  can  go  down  there  alive 
as  surely  as  Elijah  could  be  taken  up  into  heaven  alive.  So  shall 
many  saints  be  taken  up  to  reach  the  destined  earthly  glory  without 
passing  through  the  wrath  that  ends  this  eon. 

17.  Four  resurrections  are  recorded  in  the  Old  Testament.  That 
of  Jonah   is  of  great  importance,  as  our  Lord   twice  declared   His 


86  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

experience  to  be  a  great  sign  to  the  Jews.  Jonah's  body  was  in  the 
fish,  the  seaweeds  about  his  head.  He  began  to  pray  as  soon  as  he  was 
swallowed.  While  praying,  his  soul  left  his  body  and  went  down 
into  Sheol  (Hades).  This  was  death.  His  spirit  was  conscious  in 
Sheol  apart  from  his  body.  His  death,  and  three  days  in  Sheol,  was 
not  penal,  but  disciplinary;  also  typical. 

1 8.  Jesus  raised  Jairus's  daughter,  and  the  young  man  at  Nain. 

19.  Moses  was  buried  by  Jehovah.  The  Archangel  Michael  con- 
tended about  his  body,  possibly  because  his  resurrection  might  have 
been  considered  premature. 

20.  Lazarus's  body  came  from  the  tomb,  his  soul  and  spirit  from 
the  place  where  Jehovah  kept  His  Old  Testament  saints.  "Thy 
brother  shall  rise  again,"  said  the  Lord  to  Martha.  "I  know,"  said 
she,  "that  he  shall  rise  again  in  the  resurrection  at  the  last  day." 
Jesus  said  unto  her  (now  Jesus  was  talking  to  Martha  about  Lazarus 
and  calling  her  attention  away  from  the  last  day  to  the  then  present, 
so  that  what  He  says  applies  to  Lazarus) ,  "/  am  the  resurrection  and 
the  life;  he  [Lazarus]  that  believeth  on  Me,  though  he  die,  yet  shall 
he  live  [Martha  saw  Lazarus  come  out  of  the  grave  alive],  and 
whosoever  liveth  [as  Lazarus  did  in  resurrection]  and  believeth  on 
Me  shall  not  die  for  the  eon."  The  covenant  Jew  looked  forward 
to  "the  life"  of  the  Messianic  eon  as  the  promised  goal  of  the  covenant. 
There  are  other  things  bej'ond,  and  this  promise,  though  thus  definite 
and  limited  to  "the  life"  of  that  eon,  in  nowise  denies  that  there  is 
more  to  follow. 

21.  Christ  in  Tartarus,  in  the  lowest  Sheol.    . 

22.  Christ  in  Palestine  40  days. 

23.  Christ  "passed  through  the  heavens." 

24.  "Christ  far  above  all  heavens"  exalted. 

25.  The  Old  Testament  saints  raised  with  Christ;  souls  and 
spirits  enter  the  bodies;  they  come  out  of  their  graves;  they  ascend 
to  the  second  heaven,  where  are  Enoch,  Elijah,  Jonah  and  others. 
These  are  covenant  saints  that  come  with  the  Son  of  Man  when  He 
comes  in  His  Messianic  glory. 

26.  Dorcas,  a  woman  raised  by  Peter;  Eutychus,  a  man  raised 
by  Paul. 

27.  The  heavenly  "body"  of  Christ,  chosen  in  Him  before  the 
wreck  of  the  cosmos  of  the  first  eon.  No  revelation  is  made  in 
Scripture  of  this  secret  until  Paul  made  it  public  in  his  Ephesian  letter. 


sin's  penalty  paid  once  for  all  87 

This  work  of  Christ  Jesus  is  "an  exhibition"  of  His  riches  of  grace 
"exceeding"  any  other  made  known  to  us.  Paul's  dispensation  of 
this  mystery  did  not  begin  at  Pentecost.  The  landmark  of  its  be- 
ginning, if  so  spiritual  a  thing  could  be  said  to  have  a  landmark,  is 
scripturally  the  twenty-eighth  chapter  of  Acts,  about  62  A.  D.  It  is 
set  forth  by  Paul  only,  and  in  Ephesians,  Philippians,  and  Colossians, 
only,  though  a  knowledge  of  it  is  presupposed  in  the  letters  to  Timothy 
and  Titus,  written  some  five  years  later. 

The  more  one  adds  to  his  perception  of  these  differences  in 
Scriptural  eons  and  dispensations,  the  more  clearly  will  be  seen  the 
truth  of  "the  last  things."  For  Law  was  A,  B,  C;  the  four  gospels, 
F,  G,  H ;  the  Acts,  I,  J;  Paul's  four  groups  of  epistles,  K,  L,  M; 
N,  O,  P;  Q,  R,  S;  T,  U,  V.  Last  things,  X,  Y,  Z,  are  not  for 
infants,  but  for  those  who  by  reason  of  use  have  their  spiritual  senses 
exercised,  so  that  they  can  leave  the  first  principles  and  go  on  to  a 
mature,  intelligent  understanding  of  God's  nature  and  God's  purpose, 
and  of  Christ's  accomplishment  of  that  purpose. 

28.  The  "rapture"  of  First  Thessalonians  4  is  that  of  saints  who 
are  to  return  with  Messiah  for  the  earthly  glory.  They  are  not  of 
"The  Body,"  which  is  "called  up  on  high." 

29.  The  two  witnesses  of  Revelation  9  are  killed.  They  lie  in  the 
street  three  and  a  half  days  and  then  are  raised  to  join  the  Old  Testa- 
ment company,  and  with  them  return. 

30.  The  tribulation  martyrs  live  and  reign  with  Christ  1,000 
years. 

31.  Revelation  9.  Here  the  fact  is  revealed  that  in  the  pit  of  the 
abyss  there  are  200,000,000  demons.  In  the  coming  tribulation  they 
are  provided  with  bodies  as  there  described.  They  first  torment  men 
five  months,  under  Abaddon,  their  king.  Later,  by  fire  and  smoke 
and  brimstone  they  kill  one-third  part  of  men  then  on  earth. 

32.  The  antichristian  hosts  of  combined  Christendom  under  the 
political  Beast  and  the  false  prophet,  reinforced  by  Satan  and  his 
angels,  and  hosts  of  demons,  arrayed  against  Messiah  and  His  com- 
pany, are  destroyed  by  the  outshining  glory  of  the  Lord's  presence 
(the  epiphany  of  His  parousia),  when  He  comes  to  assume  the  throne 
of  the  Kingdom.  Note  that  this  destroying  glory  is  called  "the 
Lake  of  the  Divine  Fire"  when  this  same  event  is  described  from 
another  viewpoint  (II  Thess.  2:8;  Rev.  19:  19). 

33.  At  the  end  of  the  Millennial  reign  Satan  is  loosed  that  he 


88  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

may  gather  to  himself  all  the  unregenerate  then  living  to  make  one 
last  demonstration  of  creature  enmity.  Fire  comes  down  out  of 
Heaven  and  devours  them,  and  the  last  eon  begins.  It  is  characterized 
by  the  unveiled  Son  of  God  on  the  Great  White  Throne.  The  end 
sees  the  work  that  the  creative  word  was  sent  forth  to  do,  finished 
and  delivered  up. 

This  review  shows  a  progression  from  eon  to  eon,  from  dispensa- 
tion to  dispensation.  With  man  sin  is  introduced ;  it  runs  its  course : 
it  accomplishes  its  purpose;  it  is  borne  away  by  the  Lamb  of  God. 
Christ  in  resurrection  takes  the  place  of  all  power  to  continue  His 
work.  Sin  has  left  its  mark,  but  it  is  not  sin  that  separates  creation 
from  God  now;  it  is  ignorance  and  unbelief,  the  same  elements  that 
started  the  evil  in  the  Anointed  Cherub;  who  fell  before  Adam  did. 
The  exalted  Jesus  (Jehovah-Savior)  is  dealing  with  these  evil  ele- 
ments in  His  own  way.  The  gospel  is  now  declared  to  be  the  result 
of  His  combined  wisdom  and  power.  Endless  penalty  for  sin  relies 
wholly  upon  law  and  retributive  justice  to  satisfy  a  moral  sense  of 
right.  Whereas,  righteousness  is  established,  and  the  moral  sense 
of  God  and  all  believers  is  satisfied  by  the  work  of  Christ  "that  God 
might  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  hath  faith  in  Jesus." 

Whether  all  will  see  and  believe  thus  becomes  the  present  ques- 
tion. Search  the  Scriptures  for  a  decision.  We  find  this  in  Paul's 
first  letter  to  Timothy  (I  Tim.  i:  11-17),  "The  gospel  of  the  glory 
of  the  blessed  God,  as  I  have  been  entrusted  with  it"  (or  "as  I  have 
myself  believed  it,"  Ferrar  Fenton,  who  also  has  "the  rectifying 
gospel,"  thus  rendering  doxes).  Paul  mentions  his  authoritative  en- 
dowment as  a  minister  and  then  goes  on,  "Although  I  was  before  an 
abuser,  a  persecutor  and  brutal;  however  I  found  pity,  because  I  had 
done  it  in  ignorance  and  unbelief.  But  the  grace  of  our  Lord  with 
faith  and  love,  which  is  in  Christ  Jesus,  superabounded.  This  word 
is  true  and  worthy  of  full  reception,  that  Christ  Jesus  came  into  the 
world  to  save  sinners,  of  whom  I  am  representative."  Protos,  first, 
implies  more  than  comparison  here,  as  the  following  words  show: 
"But  for  the  following  reason  I  was  granted  pity;  so  that  Christ 
Jesus  might  conspicuously  display  in  me  the  universality  of  mercy 
(long-suffering)  for  a  sample  (hupotuposin)  of  those  to  believe  on 
Him  hereafter  unto  life  eonian."  There  is  no  repetition  of  the  Lord's 
method  with  Saul  of  Tarsus  recorded  or  known  as  yet.  When 
Messiah  appears  to  Israel  in  their  extremity,  their  national  conversion 


sin's  penalty  paid  once  for  all  89 

will  be  similar;  but  the  making  of  ignorance  and  unbelief  a  chief 
characteristic  of  those  to  be  converted  hereafter,  the  descriptive  titles 
in  the  ascription  of  Verse  17,  and  the  fact  that  Paul  is  not  writing  to 
a  novice,  but  to  one  who  by  years  of  association  with  him  in  his  work 
is  familiar  with  the  previous  progressive  stages  of  his  accredited 
teaching; —  these  point  to  the  conditions  of  the  last  eon,  when  all  the 
ignorant  and  unbelieving  stand  before  the  Great  White  Throne. 
They  have  no  knowledge  of  gospel;  they  are  there  with  their  natural 
religious  ideas  only.  Sin  or  sins  are  not  under  consideration  by  the 
One  Enthroned,  The  books  opened  contain  the  record  of  God's 
acts,  not  man's.  Read  John  5:37-47.  These  "Judeans"  (Verse  18) 
will  have  Moses's  writings,  by  which  they  will  be  judged.  There  they 
will  see  what  they  did  not  see  before, — that  Moses  testified  of  Christ. 
Faith  will  come  by  hearing,  and  hearing  by  the  Word  of  God,  then 
as  now;  for  it  is  their  knowledge  of  God  that  Christ  would  insure. 
Others  will  be  "judged  by  Paul's  Gospel"  or  any  other  revelation  of 
God's  truth  that  any  man  has  had  the  opportunity  of  hearing.  They 
will  all  be  "without  excuse."  The  great  mass  will  have  no  conception 
of  God.  The  intelligent  who  have  reasoned  from  nature  that  nature's 
God  is  He  whom  they  should  seek,  have  not  sought  Him  except  in 
the  imaginings  of  their  own  heart  or  in  the  manufacture  of  their  own 
hands.  The  few  who  have  waited  upon  their  Creator,  according  to 
their  light,  have  all  had  more  light;  they  are  not  in  this  company 
of  the  dead.  These  are  like  Job,  or  Aner,  Eshcol,  Mamre,  Queen  of 
Sheba,  Naaman,  the  Ethiopian  Eunuch,  Cornelius  of  Cesarea.  "The 
Lord  knoweth  them  that  are  His."  He  now  would  deal  with  the 
dead,  who  are  exposed  to  the  Divine  Glory  about  to  be  fully  unveiled. 
Every  last  one  of  them  has  been  redeemed  from  the  penalty  of  sin 
by  the  blood  of  Christ,  and  now  He  will  redeem  by  power,  the 
spiritual  power  of  the  knowledge  of  God.  All  these  are  expecting 
penalty  for  sin;  for  that  is  the  best  human  philosophical  reasoning 
can  do  for  them.  It  is  significant  that  the  face  of  the  enthroned  One 
is  the  only  feature  mentioned,  for  the  face  gives  the  first  and  strongest 
impression.  This  face  will  then  be  seen  for  the  first  time.  Even 
Cain  did  not  look  Jehovah  in  the  face,  but  his  countenance  was  fallen, 
and  he  turned  his  back ;  but  now  Cain  will  see  that  face  and  see,  not 
what  his  natural  heart  dreads,  not  what  the  preachers  of  wrath  out 
of  its  place  have  told  of  and  threatened.  No!  If  He  is  the  same 
they  will  see  what  the  children  saw  when  they  came  to  His  arms. 


go  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Here  at  last,  spirit  to  spirit,  they  will  heed  the  word  of  Isaiah  45. 
"Look!  unto  Me!  and  be  ye  saved,  all  ye  ends  of  the  earth,  for  I  am 
God  and  there  is  none  else,  a  just  God  and  a  Savior." 

Sin  and  sinners  and  pardon  have  been  commercialized,  money 
has  been  paid,  penances  done.  "With  what,"  said  Balak,  King  over 
Moloch-worshipping  Moab. 

Micah:6:5-8: 

"My  people  remember  the  question 
Of  Balak  the  Moabite  King, 
And  how  Balaam-ben-Baor  answered. 
At  the  wood  of  Acacias  and  Gilgal, — 
And  thus  learn  how  good  the  Lord  is." 

Balak:     "With  what  shall  I  come  to  the  Lord? 

How  bow  before  God,  the  Most  High? 
Shall  I  approach  Him  with  burnt-offerings? 
With  calves,  and  the  sons  of  a  year? 
Please  the  Lord  with  a  thousand  of  rams? 
With  ten  thousand  of  rivers  of  oil? 
Or  give  my  first-born  for  my  fault? 
The  fruit  of  myself*  for  the  sin  of  my  soul  ? 

Balaam:  "He  has  shown  you,  frail  man,  what  is  right; — 
And  what  does  the  Lord  seek  from  you? — 
To  administer  justice  aright; 
Love  mercy;  walk  humbly  with  God!" 

Jukes  suggests,  in  speaking  of  the  elect,  the  first-born,  that  these 
followers  of  Moloch  burned  the  first-born  as  an  offering  in  order  that 
the  other  children  might  be  saved;  but  some  modern  predestinarians 
would  have  the  elect  first-born  saved,  and  all  the  others  burned 
sempiternally ;  in  which  the  followers  of  Moloch  score  above  the 
modern  Inquisitionists. 

Some  who  have  been  making  personal  capital  out  of  their  manipu- 
lations of  the  sinner's  conscience,  cry  out  about  making  light  of  sin. 
If  sin  is  made  light  of  because  Christ  is  victorious  over  all  its  evil, 
past,  present,  and  future ;  if  sin  is  made  light  of  because  where  it  most 
abounds  grace  superabounds,  then  sin  will  have  to  submit.  Sin  has 
"reigned,"  but  it  "reigned  unto  death"  only,  and  he  that  is  dead  is 
freed  from  sin.  Sin  has  no  resurrection.  In  the  death  of  Christ, 
the  reign  of  sin  came  to  an  end,  and  in  the  resurrection  power  of 
Christ  "grace  reigns  through  righteousness  to  life  eonian;  righteous- 

*  My   body. 


SIN  S    PENALTY    PAID    ONCE    FOR    ALL  9 1 

ness  established,  not  by  endless  future  retribution,  but  by  the  terms 
of  the  Gospel  of  God,  for  "therein  is  revealed  a  righteousness  of  God." 
With  the  eonian  work  of  Jesus  (Savior)  finished  and  delivered  up 
to  the  Father,  there  is  said  to  be  no  more  death;  it  is  like  darkness, 
a  negative,  and  passes  away  when  love  is  all  in  all,  when  life  and 
light  are  unclouded; — no  more  penalty,  no  more  law,  no  more  sin, 
no  more  judicial  machinery,  no  more  priesthood; — it  is  God,  as 
Father,  who  is  then  said  to  be  all  in  all. 

"The  wages  of  sin  is  death."  "In  the  day  thou  eatest  thereof 
thou  shalt  surely  die."  This  is  the  penalty  according  to  the  Bible. 
It  requires  the  faith  of  the  spiritual  man  to  see  it  alike  in  its  simplicity 
and  in  its  magnitude.  Its  simplicity  is  in  the  word  "death ;"  its  magni- 
tude takes  in  the  unity  of  the  old  creation  in  the  headship  of  the  Son, 
who  in  that  representative  position  pays  the  whole  penalty  for  sin. 
"We  thus  judge  that  Christ  died  for  all,  therefore  all  died!"  Faith 
alone  can  accept  this,  and  the  natural  man  walks  by  sight.  (Col. 
1 :  18-23.)  All  penalty  is  thus  specifically  paid  by  Christ  in  His  one 
act  of  humiliation.  His  submission  unto  death.  To  exact  additional 
penalty  in  the  life  or  death  of  any  of  Adam's  race  goes  beyond 
retributive  justice.  The  natural  man  complains,  "I  suffer  in  this 
life;  I  must  die;  I  look  forward  fearfully  to  judgment,"  etc.,  but 
all  this  is  in  ignorance  of  "the  gospel  of  God  concerning  His  Son," 
and  in  blind  confidence  in  his  blind  religious  leaders.  On  the  con- 
trary, the  spiritual  man  says,  "I  believe  that  our  Savior,  Jesus  Christ, 
who  annulled  the  Death  {katargesantos  men  ton  thanatonj  abolished, 
brought  to  naught,  the  Thanatos) ,  and  brought  Life  and  Incorrupti- 
bility to  Light  through  the  gospel."    You  do  not  get  this  through  Law. 

Sin  and  sinners  take  up  too  much  of  the  stage.  Give  God  his  due ; 
let  Christ  have  the  pre-eminence  in  all  things.  Man  is  told  by  his 
fellow-man,  who  seats  himself  in  Moses's  seat,  that  if  he  repents, 
pleads  for  pardon,  and  then  is  forgiven,  he  has  a  title  to  heavenly 
bliss  when  he  dies.  This  has  no  Divine  authority;  it  is  false. 
(l)  Sin  is  not  charged  to  the  account  of  any  man  today.  (II  Cor. 
5:19.)  (2)  Forgiveness  does  not  change  a  man's  character. 
Pharaoh  was  forgiven,  but  was  unchanged.  (Ex.  lo:  16-20.) 
(3)  A  heavenly  destiny  is  revealed  to  believers  of  this  dispensation 
only;  "the  earth  hath  He  given  to  the  children  of  men"  (Eph. 
1:3,20-23;  Ps.  115:  15).     It  will  take  a  majority  of  Bible  readers 


92  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

a  long  time  to  find  two  passages  on  which  to  base  a  hope  of  a 
heavenly  destiny. 

Dr.  Emmons  says,  "The  extinction  of  the  sinner  would  not  be 
the  extinction  of  his  sin ;  that  would  go  on  forever,  an  inextinguish- 
able protest  against  the  perfection  of  the  Divine  Government." 
These  guardians  of  the  honor  of  government  should  recall  the  fact 
that  Uzzah  was  too  zealous  for  the  safety  of  the  Ark  of  God 
(II  Sam,  6:6).  But  "Grace  reigns,"  superabundant  above  sin  and 
its  consequences  by  virtue  of  the  Headship  of  Christ  (Rom.  5  :  15-20). 
Shall  we  gather  up  the  fragments,  "that  nothing  be  lost,"  or  throw 
them  into  the  sempiternal  swill-box?  The  veil  of  the  law  must  hide 
the  gospel  to  some  extent  before  one  can  really  believe  in  endless 
or  even  temporary  punishment  for  sin. 

How  about  Israel's  penalties?  Israel,  foolishly  on  their  part, 
wisely  on  God's  part,  entered  into  a  covenant  of  law  which  was  in 
force  from  Moses  to  the  Baptist,  and  there  were  penalties,  but  as  the 
first  party  to  that  covenant  was  "Jehovah  their  God,"  their  very 
punishment  took  on  the  aspect  of  discipline,  to  drive  them  or  lead 
them  to  Christ.  This  legal  experience  was  temporary  and  incidental. 
The  essence  of  the  Law,  "Thou  shalt  love  Jehovah  thy  God,"  was 
legal,  and  it  is  suggestive  that  in  this  connection  there  is  so  little 
reference  to  Deut.  30:  6.  "Jehovah  thy  God  will  circumcise  thy  heart 
and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all  thy 
heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live."  This  is  predicted 
of  the  wilderness  unbelievers  who  died  in  their  sin. 

But  what  does  the  Dean,  D.  D.,  teach?  "Man  has  a  capacity  for 
self-determination, — can  choose  to  reject  the  One  who  was  wounded 
for  their  trangressions  and  bruised  for  their  iniquities,  and  upon 
whom  the  chatisement  of  their  peace  was  laid,  and  some  will  so 
choose."  True,  and  men  have  changed,  and  can  and  will  change 
their  choices.  Men,  old  and  new,  are  the  workmanship  of  God  in 
this  change,  and  if  one  can  be  changed,  it  is  presumption  to  say 
where  He  will  stop  until  all  are  changed  (Eph.  2:10).  Saul  of 
Tarsus  was  the  representative  chief  of  these  Christ-rejectors,  and 
the  means  taken  to  influence  his  choice  is  said  to  be  a  sample  of 
some  future  dealing;  not  with  Israel  only,  but  with  the  dead  before 
the  Great  White  Throne.     (Acts  9:5;  i  Tim.  1:16.) 

Who  art  Thou,  Lord?  The  Great  Moral  Governor  of  the 
Universe?    No!    "I  am  Jehovah-Savior."     (Joshua,  Jesus.)     Where 


SIN  S    PENALTY    PAID    ONCE    FOR   ALL  93 

is  the  repentance,  the  forgiveness,  the  purifying?  They  are  in  the 
background.  Sin  was  not  the  first  point;  knowledge  which  was 
salvation  came  first.  Sin  had  been  put  away  as  a  fact,  it  had  to  be 
dealt  with  in  the  education  of  Saul ;  he  was  even  to  follow  the  ritual 
for  ceremonial  cleansing.  But  he  soon  outgrew  the  law.  Paul  testi- 
fies in  I  Tim.  i:  13,  "I  was  before  a  blasphemer,  and  a  persecutor, 
and  injurious;  howbeit,  I  obtained  mercy  because  I  did  it  ignorantly 
and  in  unbelief."  Exalted  at  the  right  hand  of  all  power,  Christ 
Jesus  is  not  dealing  with  sin  now;  He  finished  that  business  once 
for  all ;  He  is  meeting  ignorance  and  unbelief  by  the  power  and 
wisdom  of  God  as  it  is  manifested  in  the  gospel  of  His  grace.  When 
debits  and  credits  are  all  down  on  the  balance-sheet,  it  will  not  be 
found  that  the  law  claims  an  unpaid  remainder,  an  amount  that  can 
never  be  made  up  while  the  rolling  ages  of  Eternity  roll.  No,  the 
balance  will  be  found  to  the  credit  of  grace  that  superabounded,  above 
all  the  sin  of  the  seven  millenniums,  no  matter  how  much  it  abounded 
(Rom.  5  :  20,  21 ) .  In  fact,  the  law  was  so  fully  satisfied  at  the  cross 
that  there  has  not  been  an  entry  on  the  debit  side  since.  The 
Recording  Angel  has  been  on  a  vacation. 

There  is  no  place  for  sin  on  resurrection  ground.  The  resurrec- 
tion of  Christ  was  a  receipt  in  full  for  all  demands  of  retributive 
justice. 

The  "righteousness  of  God"  has  been  established,  and  now  it  is 
ungodliness  that  is  to  be  overcome.  "For  there  is  no  difference,  for 
all  sinned" — this  is  settled — "and  come  short  of  the  glory  of  God" — 
this  remains,  and  preparation  must  be  made  to  meet  the  unveiling  of 
that  glory.    The  coming  thousand  years  will  find  all  the  living  read3\ 

Keep  in  mind  Anderson's  words,  "The  day  is  past  when  God 
could  plead  with  men  about  their  sins.  The  controversy  is  not  about 
a  broken  law,  but  a  rejected  Christ."  "This  direst  sin"  (?)  he 
calls  it,  notwithstanding.  He  further  says  (somewhat  inconsistently), 
"The  final  punishment  of  the  lost  will  be  the  consequence  of  a 
judicial  sentence.  This  penalty  will  be  that  due  their  sins,  else  it 
were  unrighteous  to  impose  it.  If  the  lost  are  saved  ultimately,  it 
must  be  because  the  penalty  is  paid."  Must  gospel  cease  while  law 
continues,  or  is  the  reverse  true?  Anderson  further  says,  "It  is  not, 
I  repeat,  the  providential  or  disciplinary,  but  the  penal  consequences 
of  sin  that  follow  the  judgment."    "Punishments  are  not  purgatorial." 

Now  first, — Has  Christ  paid  the  debt?    Second, — Does  the  sinner 


94  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

pay  the  penalty  to  the  uttermost  farthing?  Third, — Does  Purgatory 
pay  part,  after  Christ  has  paid  the  whole?  Sin  seems  to  be  a  great 
commercial  commodity.  We  need  a  blue  sky  law  to  restrain  the  fake 
speculator  who  exploits  other  men's  consciences  even  after  Christ  has 
settled  the  account.  Your  knowledge  of  God,  plus  j^our  false  ideas 
of  God,  make  up  the  character  of  God  as  j'ou  apprehend  Him.  Who 
is  your  God?    What  is  his  name? 

Paul  taught  "the  whole  counsel  of  Grod."  What  does  he  say  of 
endless  punishment  for  sin? — Nothing!  And  if  essential,  why  absent 
from  passages  like  the  following :  Rom.  2 :  8,  9 ;  5:21;  Gal.  5:21; 
6:8;  Phil.  3:  18,  19;  II  Thess.  1:9? 

Samuel  Cox  says,  "Endless  punishment  for  sin  is  at  variance  with 
the  Scripture  law  of  retribution,  with  election,  with  the  declared  end 
and  function  of  punishment,  and  with  the  changeless  love  and  passion 
of  God  as  declared  in  the  Atonement"  (reconciliation  through  the 
blood  of  His  Cross,  rather)  (Gen.  12:3,  22:18;  Acts  3 :  25,  26.) 
"Unto  you  first,"  says  Peter.  "Every  one  of  you,"  the  crowd  among 
whom  were  some  scoffers.  "All  kindreds  of  the  earth."  Gal.  3 :  8, 
"foreseeing  that  God  would  justify  the  heathen  through  faith."  "All 
nations  blessed."  Ps.  72:  14,  "All  nations  shall  call  Him  blessed." 
Ps.  102:  15-22,  Rom.  15:  II,  with  Ps.  117 :  I,  Ps.  150:  6,  Isa.  45:  22^, 
23,  "this  .  .  .  cannot  return  void."  (Isaiah  55.)  This  vision  of  re- 
demption is  invariably  companioned  by  a  vision  of  temporary  judgment, 
the  redemption  being  final.  Joel  2:  28-31  with  3:  1 2-2 1,  "All  flesh." 
Hab.  2:  13,  14,  judgment,  then  glory;  Zeph.  2:11,  "terrible;"  3 :  8,  9, 
"that  all  the  isles  of  the  heathen;"  Mai.  i:  11,  3:  1-3,  4:  1-3,  judg- 
ments, then  "His  name  great  among  the  Gentiles."  "In  every  place 
incense  offered  unto  My  Name." 

EVIL  (Ra,  Hebrew,  and  kakos,  Greek)  is  an  all-inclusive  term. 
It  meets  us  on  the  threshold  of  revelation  as  the  opposite  or  negative 
of  "good." 

Isa.  45:5-8: 

"I  am  the  LIFE^  and  none  beside. 
Except  Myself,  there  is  no  God; 
Though  you  knew  not,  I  fixed  your  belt ! 
To  teach  them  from  the  rising-sun, 
And  from  where  evening  fades  away, 
That  I  am  LIFE^  and  none  beside! — 
Who  formed^  the  light?     Created^  Gloom? 
Who  Good*  has  made?     Created^  bad?'^ 


sin's  penalty  paid  once  for  all  95 

"Myself,  the  LORD  made  all! 
Skies!®  from  above  drop  dew! 
You  clouds  rain  Goodness"  down, 
Earth  open  and  yield  Justice,^ 
And  Right*'  grow  up  at  once. 
As  I  the  LORD^  createn 

1.  Jehovah.  2.  Yah-tcar.  3.  Bah-rah.  4.  Shalohm,  peace,  welfare.  5.  Ra ,  evil, 
calamity.      6.    Tsedeq,  righteousness.      7.    Ych-sha',    justice,    salvation.      8.  Heavens. 

Gen.  2:17,  Ye  may  not  eat;  I  Tim.  2:15,  The  woman  was  de- 
ceived, she  was  wronged,  as  truly  as  she  was  wrong,  Adam  sinned 
wilfully.  They  were  expelled ;  death  came  and  all  our  woe.  This 
incident  was  brief.  It  was  on  the  progressive  program.  Man  is 
responsible  on  his  part  as  a  man,  and  God  is  responsible  on  His  part 
as  God.  Man  has  shirked  responsibility,  but  God  never:  He  had  no 
occasion  to.  A  certain  Dean  pounces  upon  this  idea,  and  labels  it 
"Horrid  Blasphemy."  So  the  "Reconciliation  of  the  Universe"  is 
called  "Damnable  doctrine,  from  the  pit  of  Hell,"  etc.  Unless  God 
is  responsible  for  the  presence  of  all  evil,  and  unless  all  evil  is 
temporary  and  justifiable  as  a  cause,  we  have  the  so-called  "Problem 
of  evil,"  and  we  have  no  solution,  and  we  may  as  well  resign  ourselves 
to  Kismet,  or  to  the  doctrine  of  election,  reprobation  and  decrees, 
which,  in  the  utterance  of  Augustinian,  Calvinistic  theologians,  is 
the  same  thing.  There  is,  however,  a  better  way,  and  Berean 
searchers  can  easily  find  it. 

Rom.  1 1 :  32,  "God  hath  shut  up  all  together  in  unbelief,"  and 
the  Chicago  Dean  calls  unbelief  the  unpardonable  sin! 

Rom.  11:36,  All  things  are  out  of  God.  ( I  Cor.  8:6;  11:12; 
n  Cor.  5:  18;  Col.  1 :  16;  Heb.  2:  10.)  Omar  Khajn^am  and  theo- 
logians say,  "Out  of  nothing." 

I  Sam.  16:  14,  15,  16,  23,  An  evil  spirit  from  God.  (I  Sam.  18: 10, 
19:9;  Ps.  78:49.) 

Lam.  3 :  37,  38,  Who  speaks  and  it  comes,  when  the  LORD  has 
not  ordered?  Both  bad  and  good  came  from  the  mouth  of  the  Highest. 

H,  however,  evil  is  to  be  permanent,  then  the  problem  of  its 
existence  is  insoluble.  Jehovah  kills.  That  is  an  evil,  but  not  a  sin. 
Man  kills.  That  is  not  only  an  evil,  but  a  sin ;  for  man  cannot  make 
alive,  as  God  can  and  will.     Let  us  search  and  see. 

I  John  3  :  4,  Sin  is  the  transgression  of  the  law. 

Rom.  3 :  20,  By  the  law  is  the  knowledge  of  sin. 

Rom.  7 :  8,  Without  the  law  sin  was  dead. 
7 


96  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

This  one  point  certainly  is  definite.  Now,  let  us  keep  this  dis- 
tinction clear:  to  sin  against  the  law  is  one  thing;  to  refuse,  or,  as 
some  say,  reject,  the  gospel  is  quite  another. 

Rom.  5 :  20,  The  law  entered,  thus  law  began.  Second  Corinth- 
ians, Chapter  3,  The  law  was  "done  away,"  thus  law  ends.  Law  is 
evidently  a  temporary  expedient.  There  is  something  other  than  law 
and  sin  that  is  the  matter  with  this  world  of  men. 

They  may  answer  "that  man's  intuitive  sense  of  justice  may  be 
satisfied."  They  cannot  say,  "In  order  that  God's  demand  for  right- 
eousness be  fully  met ;  for  it  is  declared  that  "God  set  forth  Christ 
Jesus,  a  propitiation  [or  propitiatory] ,  through  faith  in  His  blood  .  .  . 
that  He  might  Himself  be  just  and  the  justifier  of  him  that  is  of 
faith  of  Jesus."  Meet  one  issue  at  a  time;  the  question  of  faith  is 
considered  elsewhere.  First  decide  whether  the  penalty  of  sin,  as 
stated  in  Scripture,  is  put  away  or  not.  If  Christ  ransomed  all,  then 
no  penalty  is  to  be  exacted  beyond  His  finished  work  at  any  future 
time.  The  question  of  unbelief  is  to  be  met,  but  for  all  sin  the  law 
has  been  satisfied  by  the  penalty  paid  once  for  all.  Test  very  critically 
all  attempts  to  weaken  or  limit  this  fundamental  gospel  fact,  and  settle 
it  between  your  own  self  and  your  own  Lord  before  you  go  on  to 
other  doctrines  that  are  affected  by  your  perception  of  this.  In  another 
place  the  Scripture  is  appealed  to  to  settle  the  relation  of  one  who  is 
ignorant  and  unbelieving  and  rejecting  the  light,  but  sin  is  not  now, 
nor  ever  will  be  brought  up  against  any,  if  once  for  all  Christ  put  it 
aw^ay.  (II  Cor.  5 :  19.)  There  are  many  who  see  this  and  preach  it, 
adding  that  the  one  great  sin  which  will  result  in  sempiternal  punish- 
ment is  unbelief.  Thus  Robert  Anderson  ("Human  Destiny,"  p.  165) 
affirms,  "The  day  is  past  when  God  could  plead  with  men  about  their 
sins.  The  controversy  now  is  not  about  a  broken  law,  but  a  rejected 
Christ"  and  (p.  154)  "Sin's  penalty  has  indeed  been  borne  by  Christ. 
His  resurrection  was  the  public  proof  that  every  claim  of  righteousness 
was  satisfied.  But  the  sufferings  of  the  sin-bearer  did  not  include  the 
consequences  of  rejecting  the  atonement.  (He  who  knew  no  sin  was 
made  sin  for  us.)  Faith  grasps  the  fact  that  the  death  of  the  sin- 
bearer,  in  all  which  it  implies,  is  an  equivalent  to  the  sinner's  doom." 
After  this  we  have  this  inconsistent  remark:  "Scripture  leaves  no 
doubt  that  in  the  world  to  come,  sin's  punishment  shall  be  real  and 
searching,"  but  it  is  for  the  "rejection  of  Christ,"  the  "final  (  ?)  im- 
penitence," the  "confirmed  habit"  of  "self-determination,"  the  "con- 


SIN  S    PENALTY    PAID    ONCE    FOR    ALL  97 

firmed  hardness,"  the  "fixed  character"  of  the  natural  man  who  has 
even  lost  the  free  exercise  of  his  will.  And  the  longer  this  goes  on,  the 
more  hopeless  the  case,  because  beyond  God's  power, — though  it  was 
perfectly  hopeless  when  the  sinner  died  in  his  sins, — as  Dr.  Shedd 
says;  even  almightiness  itself  cannot  forgive  impenitence  any  more 
than  it  can  make  a  square  circle.  (How  about  the  four  corners  of 
the  earth?)  "The  endlessness  of  sin  results,  first,  from  the  nature 
and  energy  of  sinful  self-determination.  Sin  is  the  creature's  act 
solely.  There  is  no  will  so  wilful  as  a  wicked  will.  Sin  is  stubborn 
and  obstinate  in  its  nature,  because  it  is  enmity  and  rebellion.  Hence 
a  wicked  will  intensifies  itself  perpetually.  Enmity  becomes  more 
and  more  Satanic.  It  becomes  unable  to  reverse  itself  and  overcome 
its  own  inclination  and  self-determination.  Sin  ultimately  assumes 
a  fiendish  form  and  degree.  It  is  pure  wickedness  without  regret  or 
sorrow,  and  with  a  delight  in  evil  for  evil's  sake."  (And  this  is 
another  way  to  be  happy  in  hell.)  He  adds,  "The  only  necessitating 
reason,  therefore,  for  endless  retribution  that  now  exists,  is  the  sinner's 
impenitence.  A  penitent  sinner  can  be  forgiven,  but  an  impenitent 
sinner  cannot  be.  The  former  God  pities  and  extends  the  offer  of 
mercy  to  him.  To  the  latter  God  holds  out  no  hope  because  He 
cannot."     (So  the  question  narrows  down  to  penitence.) 


CHAPTER  VII 

PUNISHMENT  OR  DISCIPLINE? 

John  y :  24,  Judge  not  according  to  appearance,  but  judge  righteous 

judgment. 

And  Jesus  said,  "For  judgment  came  I  into  this  world,  that  they 
that  see  not  may  see,  and  that  they  that  see  may  become  blind" 
(John  9:  39).  The  first  occurrence  of  the  word  (Gen.  18:  19)  shows" 
that  God  intended  the  children  of  the  Abrahamic  Covenant  to  "keep 
the  way  of  Jehovah  and  do  righteousness  and  judgment"  for  a  cer- 
tain end.  The  Am.  R.  V.  renders  it  "righteousness  and  justice,"  very 
properly  recognizing  the  general  as  well  as  special  character  of  the 
word.  One  of  the  many  Scripture  words  perverted  to  serve  the  false 
conclusions  of  Natural  Religion  is  "judgment"  {Mishpat,  Hebrew, 
and  Krisis,  Greek).  The  judgment  of  God,  which  is  over  all  his 
works,  and  which  is  linked  with  mercy,  faith,  and  the  love  of  God, 
in  Matt.  23 :  23  and  Luke  1 1 :  42,  is  degraded  to  the  level  of  a  human 
police  court,  where  the  criminal  is  sentenced  to  the  penalty  of  the  law. 
God  is  "the  Judge  of  the  whole  earth,"  and  all  judgment  is  com- 
mitted unto  the  Son,  who  says,  "I  came  not  to  judge  the  world,  but 
to  save  the  world  .  .  .  the  word  that  I  spake  that  shall  judge  him." 
John  12:47,48,  Christ  does  not  judge  as  if  He  were  limited  to  the 
bench  of  a  law  court.  He  is  enthroned,  and  for  1,000  years  of 
judgment  He  is  a  priest,  as  well.  It  is  another  idea  of  man's  Natural 
Religion,  that  there  is  to  be  one  last  general  judgment,  where,  before 
the  bar  of  Jove,  or  whatever  name  they  give  him,  each  man  will  have 
a  trial, — the  good  to  be  acquitted  and  transported  to  elysian  fields  of 
bliss,  and  the  bad  condemned  to  endless  suffering  in  plutonian  regions. 
This  idea  is  taken  up  by  the  magnates  of  Christendom  as  a  profitable 
cash  asset.  But  doctrines  range  from  the  transcendental  to  the 
ridiculous.  Where  in  this  muddle  do  you  find  a  way  to  the  Truth? 
—Yes!  the  Bible. 

Scripture  has  the  term  Eonian  Judgment.  The  coming  eon,  the 
day  of  the  Lord,  is  one  continued  Divine  and  Kingly  and  Priestly 
judgment  for  one  thousand  years.  Hark  back  to  the  Psalms:  "Jehovah 
reigneth!  let  the  earth  rejoice!"  "Give  the  king  thy  judgments,  O 
God,  and  thy  righteousness  unto  the  King's  Son;  He  will  judge  thy 
people  with  righteousness  and  thy  poor  with  equity."    "He  is  Jehovah 

98 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  99 

our  God.  His  judgments  are  in  all  the  earth.  He  has  remembered 
His  covenant  for  the  eon."  "For  there  are  set  thrones  for  judgment, 
the  thrones  of  the  house  of  David."  "Behold,  My  Servant,  whom  I 
uphold;  My  Chosen,  in  Whom  My  soul  delighteth;  I  have  put  My 
Spirit  upon  Him;  He  w^ill  bring  forth  judgment  [justice]  to  the 
Gentiles."  "He  will  bring  forth  judgment  [justice]  unto  truth." 
"He  will  bring  forth  judgment  unto  victory."  (Read  Psalms  96; 
97:  1,2;  98:8,9;  99:  1-4;  72;  122:5;  Isa.  42:  1-4.) 

It  is  true  that  God  "hath  appointed  a  day  in  which  He  will  judge 
the  world  in  righteousness  by  the  Man  whom  He  hath  ordained ; 
whereof  He  hath  given  assurance  unto  all  men  in  that  He  hath  raised 
Him  from  the  dead."  That  "day"  of  the  Lord  Is  one  thousand  years, 
the  eon  to  come.  Judgment  will  be  in  the  earth  the  whole  period,  and 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  world  will  learn  knowledge  (Isa.  26:  7-9). 
The  Kingdom  Commission  (Matt.  28:  18)  will  then  be  carried  out 
by  the  kingdom  of  priests,  and  they  will  "make  disciples"  of  all  nations 
— "TEACHING  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  commanded 
you."  The  Twelve  knew  this  was  a  National  Commission,  and  so 
they  confined  themselves  to  calling  the  nation  to  repentance  first; 
they  did  not  go  to  the  Gentiles;  they  did  not  baptize  according  to  that 
commission.  The  modern  Gentile  Church  thinks  It  knows  better 
than  the  Twelve  who  received  instruction  as  to  these  Kingdom  matters 
direct  from  their  Lord  for  40  days  after  He  rose.  They  did  not  go 
and  teach  the  nations,  they  did  not  baptize  as  ecclesiastics  now  do  in 
the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit;  this 
was  for  the  kingdom  of  priests,  when  at  last  they  repent  and  receive 
their  Messiah,  who  will  be  with  them  In  that  Millennial  eon.  Then 
this  commission  will  be  in  order. 

After  an  eon  of  teaching  without  error,  and  with  miraculous 
helpful  spiritual  gifts,  the  earth  will  be  full  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Lord  as  the  waters  cover  the  sea.  This  describes  the  condition  of  the 
living  upon  earth.  There  remains,  however,  evil  and  ignorance  and 
unbelief  on  the  part  of  Angels,  Demons  and  the  human  dead.  As  the 
world  has  been  made  righteous  by  that  Man  whom  God  ordained, 
it  then  enters  the  last  eon  in  which  the  Universe  is  to  be  made  meet 
for  the  approval  of  God,  and  this  is  to  be  done  by  the  Supreme  Power 
of  the  Son  of  God,  working  through  the  elect  of  the  first  resurrec- 
tion, the  Body  of  Christ,  the  promoted  Israel,  or  at  least  an  elect 
company  gathered  out  of  Israel  as  the  "perfect  woman,"  on  the  prin- 


100  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

ciples  indicated  in  Corinthians,  to  complement  "the  perfect  man"  of 
Ephesians,  and  elect  angels  who  have  been  taught  of  God,  giving 
earnest  attention  for  2,000  years  to  the  principles  revealed  in  this  pres- 
ent heavenly  dispensation.  The  humiliation  of  the  Son,  whose  Godhood 
has  been  veiled  for  the  eons,  reaches  its  last  stage  in  the  last  eon. 
He  reigns  in  Majesty  for  1,000  years  in  the  glory  of  the  Son  of 
Man,  the  Messiah,  on  the  Rainbow  throne  described  in  Revelations  4. 
He  then  reigns  unveiled  in  the  glory  of  the  Son  of  God,  exercising 
the  power,  wisdom,  and  love  necessary  to  the  full  accomplishment  of 
His  commission.  The  Rainbow  throne  gives  place  to  the  Great  White 
Throne.  (Rev.  20:  11.)  We  creatures  who  can  apprehend  things 
in  terms  of  time  and  space  only,  have  little  detailed  description  here, 
and  we  must  build  upon  what  is  given,  calling  for  reinforcement  upon 
all  previous  revelation.  We  may  perhaps  be  allowed  to  imagine  this 
8th  day  to  be  1,000  years,  but  at  any  rate  the  One  enthroned  will 
not  hurry  matters,  but  will  still  condescend  to  deal  with  us  in  our 
limitations. 

We  note  the  throne,  "Great! — White!"  that  is  all,  but  as  the 
earth  and  heaven  are  fled  away,  it  is  the  one  only  article  of  furniture 
visible  to  the  congregation  of  the  dead.  We  note  "the  Enthroned 
One."  No  Name!  No  description!  but  attention  is  concentrated 
on  the  one  feature  mentioned.  His  Face!  It  is  from  this  face  that 
all  the  old  things  flee.  Note,  the  Dead  remain:  Why  do  they  not 
shrivel  in  the  fierceness  of  that  glory  and  flee  away  also?  Because 
they  are  redeemed ;  because  The  Enthroned  One  created  them,  and 
loved  them  when  He  created  them.  "He  giveth  to  all  life  and  breath 
and  all  things,"  and  gives  because  He  loves.  He  has  "a  desire  unto 
His  Handiwork."  Shall  we  say  that  He  ceases  to  love  them  in 
death?  "Is  it  the  great  crime  of  dying,  which  will  end  the  love 
that  sin  and  enmity  could  not  quench?"  No!  Love  never  faileth. 
But  death  is  to  be  "done  away."  It  is  negative,  the  absence  of  life. 
It  is  a  penalty,  and  penalties  disappear  when  law  goes,  and  law  is  gone. 
Yes,  Mr.  Lawyer,  the  law  was  temporary.  It  is  "done  away" 
(II  Cor,  3:  7,  II,  13,  14),  "I  saw  the  dead,  the  great  and  the  small, 
stationed  before  the  throne" — upheld  by  spiritual  power, — there  is 
no  gravitation.  If  we  ask  in  what  form,  we  can  gather  some  idea 
by  analogy  from  the  vision  of  the  dry  bones  in  Ezekiel  37,  But  there 
is  a  body,  there  is  a  soul,  there  is  a  spirit,  "Books  were  opened," — 
not  a  record  of  man's  deeds,  but  of  God's,    The  side  of  God  is  pre- 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  lOI 

sented  to  the  assembly.  The  book  of  the  law  is  opened  to  them  that 
were  under  law  (John  5 :  45-47)  ;  the  word  of  Jesus  to  them  that 
heard  that  Word  (John  12:  47,  48);  Paul's  gospel  to  others;  the 
eonian  Gospel  of  Revelation  14;  and  the  Book  of  Nature  that  has 
been  accessible  to  all  (Rom.  i  :  19,  20  and  on  to  Rom.  2:  16;  Acts 
10:  34,  35  ;  Eccl.  12:  13,  14).  Jehovah  preached  it  to  Job  (Job  38:1 
to  41 :  26).  This  for  intelligent  ones,  but  what  for  babes?  for  idiots? 
Shall  not  the  spirit  of  the  idiot,  released  from  that  physical  compres- 
sion, be  free  to  discern?  Why  did  the  children  go  to  the  arms  of  Jesus 
on  earth?  Did  they  not  read  His  face?  And  will  there  be  seen 
another  Jesus  in  this  face?  "And  the  book  of  life!"  This  is  the 
record  of  the  covenant  nation,  Israel.  Some  are  there  whose  names 
have  been  "blotted  out"  of  that  book,  but  none  of  the  children  of 
Adam  are  there  because  of  sin ;  they  are  there  because  of  ignorance 
and  unbelief  (I  Tim.  i :  13-16).  Not  for  sins,  but  for  their  "works," 
the  work  of  natural  religion  gone  astray,  when  the  work  of  God  was, 
"that  they  should  believe  on  Him  whom  He  hath  sent"  (John  6:  29). 
"It  is  written  in  the  prophets.  And  they  shall  all  be  taught  of  God" 
(John  6:  45)  ;  here  is  His  class  of  the  spiritually  deficient. 

All  the  intelligent  spirits  before  the  throne  of  that  last  eon  have 
had  more  or  less  of  natural  religion ;  every  conscience  condemns, 
every  sense  of  justice  makes  them  believe  the  hour  of  their  sentence 
is  come.  They  believe,  and  their  preachers  have  confirmed  that  belief, 
that  the  Great  Moral  Governor  of  the  Universe  is  about  to  send  them 
to  hell  fire,  and  they  feel  the  preliminary  flames.  They  know  not 
that  it  is  the  glory  of  God  that  shines  out  upon  them;  they  have  no 
covering;  the  grave  is  gone;  the  glory  is  being  gradually  unveiled. 
But  quickly,  one  and  another,  the  feeble  first,  look  up  into  that  face ! 
They  do  not  see  what  they  expect  to  see,  and  what  they  have  been 
told  they  must  expect  to  see,  an  implacable  legal  judge.  No!  "Sirs," 
said  the  Greeks,  "we  would  see  Jesus."  Reader,  have  you  had  a 
glimpse  of  that  "faceV  Jesus,  name  above  every  name!  Savior. 
The  same  Jesus,  yesterday,  to-day  and  for  the  eons!  This  last  eon 
confirms  the  statement,  "I  am  God!  I  change  not!"  The  scene  on 
the  road  to  Damascus  is  repeated  on  a  large  scale.  Saul  saiu,  and 
believed.  Men  are  not  saved  in  unbelief,  nor  are  they  brought  into 
the  new  creation  with  the  old  Creation  character,  but  this  truth  will 
not  be  denied  by  those  who  are  likely  to  read  this  book.  " 

He  whom  God  calls  "The  Son  of  His  Love"  (Col.  i :  13)  is  the 


I02  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Head  (arche) ,  the  first-born  out  of  the  dead;  Who  said  to  Martha, 
"I  am  the  resurrection  and  the  life,"  was  also  declared  to  be  the  Son 
of  God  by  His  resurrection  (Rom.  1:4).  He  also  said,  "They  that 
are  accounted  worthy  to  attain  that  eon,  and  the  resurrection  from  the 
dead,  neither  marry  nor  are  given  in  marriage,  for  neither  can  they 
die  any  more!  for  they  are  equal  unto  the  angels;  and  are  Sons  of 
God,  being  Sons  of  the  Resurrection!  (Luke  20:  35,  36.)  Recall 
I  Cor.  15:  22,  "So  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive,"  and  you  have 
Scripture  for  the  reconciliation  of  all  the  sons  of  humanity. 

Rev.  20:  13,  an  additional  fact!  "And  the  sea  gave  up  the  dead 
that  were  in  it,"  the  demons,  who  apparently  have  been  sent  back  to 
their  pre-Adamic  place.  "And  Death  and  Hades  gave  up  the  dead 
that  were  in  them;"  the  fallen  angels  and  spirits  in  prison;  and  they 
were  judged  each  (ekastos)  according  to  their  works,  each  creature 
is  seen  for  just  exactly  what  he  is.  The  Anointed  Cherub,  the  highest 
of  God's  creatures,  "full  of  wisdom  and  perfect  in  beauty,"  is  before 
this  glorious  eonian  throne  in  creature  ignorance  and  unbelief,  and 
because  of  ignorance  and  unbelief ;  for  though  full  of  wisdom,  he  had 
not  the  omniscience  of  his  Creator.  He  acted  in  his  inferior  wisdom, 
he  came  short  of  the  perfection  which  omniscience  would  have  assured ; 
he  felt  self-sufficient,  he  saw  no  danger.  But  God  only  is  self- 
sufficient;  the  Creature  must  learn  the  necessity  of  loving  dependence 
on  his  Creator,  and  in  a  teachable  spirit  that  will  lead  on  to  fellowship 
with  God.    "The  fellowship  of  the  Divine  Spirit  be  with  you  all." 

God's  discerning  Spirit  is  in  the  Earth  at  all  times.  There  was 
a  special  judgment  at  the  cross;  the  old  creation  was  condemned  to 
pass  away,  but  the  part  taken  by  its  Divine  Head  was  acceptable. 
So  in  Resurrection  He  becomes  Head  of  a  new  Creation,  where  all  the 
"former  things"  are  "passed  away,"  and  in  which  HE  maketh  all 
things  NEW.  There  is  continuity  of  Creation  in  the  Living  Head, 
and  in  Him  alone.  This  might  be  illustrated  by  the  old  caterpillar 
Adam  life,  and  the  new  heavenly  butterfly  last  Adam  life.  The  cater- 
pillar soul  is  not  to  be  found  in  the  butterfly;  their  desires  dififer. 

The  Head  of  all  creation  became  identified  with  it,  even  physically. 
His  material  body,  animated  by  Adamic  blood,  was  the  sheath  of  the 
Divine  principle  of  life.  The  blood  was  given  up  and,  as  an  animating 
agent,  it  passed  away,  for  it  belongs  to  the  old  creation  (John  12:  24). 
But  the  body  of  Christ,  unlike  all  others,  was  in  charge  of  the  Supreme 
Spirit,  and  was  not  amenable  to  the  prevailing  law  of  corruption. 


PUNISHMENT   OR    DISCIPLINE  IO3 

Life  is  the  condition  of  a  unified  organism,  matter  dominated  by 
spirit,  spirit  dominated  by  The  Supreme  Spirit;  that  is,  The  Supreme 
Intelligence.  "God  is  Spirit."  Death  is  the  absence  of  that  co- 
ordination, that  unity  of  life,  body — soul — spirit.  The  Word  made 
fiesh  was  body — soul — spirit.  His  body  alone  of  all  bodies  had  "incor- 
ruptibility" (I  Tim.  6:16).  Not  a  bone  of  Him  was  broken,  but 
the  blood  passed  away.  Jehovah  Messiah,  Christ  Jesus,  who  had 
judged  the  earth  for  the  Millennial  eon,  now  judges  the  Universe  as 
the  Son  of  God  until  it  is  perfected  in  every  part,  animate  and  inani- 
mate, spirit  and  matter,  ready  to  be  delivered  up  to  The  Father, 
Here  is  the  consummation  of  the  eons!  The  Universe  one  family, 
with  God  all  in  all!  Immortal? — Yes,  in  Christ.  Looking  for- 
ward?— Yes,  but  how  feeble  and  futile  all  speculations  about  that 
future  until  the  eonian  work  is  accomplished. 

It  is  necessary  to  meditate  on  that  Great  White  Throne  and  the 
progressive  teachings  of  the  eons  that  lead  up  to  it,  to  determine  the 
character  of  its  judgments.  In  God's  judgments,  where  is  the  line 
between  retribution  for  sin  and  discipline  for  the  scholar?  Evil  as 
a  problem  is  insoluble  if  it  has  no  finality.  Temporary  evil,  under 
God  as  He  has  made  Himself  known,  is  easily  recognized  as  a  means 
to  an  end. 

"See  now  that  I,  even  I,  am  He  [your  protection]. 

And  there  is  no  God  with  Me. 

I  kill,  and  I  make  alive ; 

I  wound,  and  I  heal."     [Deut.  32:  39.] 
"Jehovah  killeth,  and  maketh  alive: 

He  bringeth  down  to  Sheol  and  bringeth  up, 

Jehovah  maketh  poor,  and  maketh  rich. 

He  bringeth  low.  He  also  lifteth  up."     [I  Sam.  2:  6,  7.] 

The  doctrine  of  endless  punishment  for  sin  involves  endless  evil. 
It  must  also  deny  that  this  evil  has  the  element  of  discipline  or 
chastisement  in  it.     Thus  one  false  position  develops  another. 

See  how  the  thing  works.  The  Bible  has  one  penalt>^  only  for 
sin,  and  this  is  death.  This  penalty  has  been  paid  and  the  account 
balanced.  Therefore,  all  other  evil  is  disciplinary  in  the  school  of 
the  Divine  Teacher,  (They  shall  all  be  taught  of  God.)  This 
clears  God's  character  to  us,  exalting  it,  not  lowering  it.  But  if 
natural  religion  with  its  limitations  and  errors  has  the  supreme  say  so, 
then  Law  must  usurp  the  throne  of  Grace ;  the  sin  question  is  opened 


I04  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

up  again.  That  the  Lamb  of  God  bore  away  the  sin  must  be  denied ; 
every  sin  must  meet  with  retribution ;  every  man  who  by  his  self- 
determination  has  willed  to  be  holy  must  be  rewarded.  Then  the 
putting  away  of  sin  was  not  accomplished  at  the  cross,  but  only  when 
man  wills  to  seek  God,  becomes  penitent,  and  asks  for  pardon.  Then, 
if  elect, — and  if  he  does  this,  he  is  elect, — he  will  be  fit  for  heaven 
and  will  go  there. 

Any  other  destiny  than  Elysium  (the  Greek  Paradise,  or  abode 
of  the  blessed  dead,  in  mid-air,  or  the  Sun,  or  in  the  center  of  the 
earth  next  to  Tartarus,  or  in  the  Islands  of  the  Blest)  for  the  good, 
and  the  Plutonic  depths  for  the  bad,  is  not  within  the  logic  of  the 
unaided  human  mind.  Systematic  Theology  takes  up  this  teaching 
of  natural  religion  and  affirms  it  to  be  true.  Here  is  the  language  of 
a  systematic  professor,  admitting  the  establishment  of  the  doctrine  of 
endless  punishment  for  sin,  with  no  reference  to  the  character  of  God 
apart  from  his  justness,  and  no  relation  to  the  Gospel  work  of  Christ 
in  putting  away  sin  by  the  sacrifice  of  Himself:  "The  doctrine  is 
defensible  on  the  basis  of  sound  ethics  and  from  pure  reason.  Nothing 
is  requisite  for  its  maintenance  but  the  admission  of  three  cardinal 
truths  of  theism,  namely, — that  there  is  a  just  God;  that  man  has 
a  free  will;  and  that  sin  is  voluntary  action."  (W.  G.  T.  Shedd.) 
Thus  it  is  the  natural  man,  ignorant  of  Gospel,  but  having  a  sense  of 
justice,  a  conscience  under  law,  who  demands  an  endless  existence 
for  retributive  purposes.  He  admits  the  principle,  but  even  he  is 
shocked  at  the  ghoulish  exaggerations  of  learned  theologians  at  one 
end  and  ignorant  exhorters  at  the  other.  Objections  come  from  those 
who  believe  in  Christ  and  the  Bible,  and  who  consider  the  relation  of 
the  Lord  Jesus  to  the  subject.  And  yet  Professor  Shedd  states  the 
opposite  to  be  the  fact.  He  says,  "The  chief  objections  to  the  doctrine 
of  endless  punishment  are  not  Biblical,  but  speculative."  True,  the 
advocates  of  universal  reconciliation  do  not  make  the  most  of  their 
subject ;  they  also  make  unnecessary  concessions,  possibly  because  of 
the  lingering  force  of  tradition,  training,  and  church  affiliation.  But 
that  Scripture  has  been  appealed  to,  is  much  in  evidence.  Why  deny 
what  is  printed  in  many  books? 

Here's  another  theological  nut.  "The  only  way  in  which  justice 
can  approximately  obtain  its  dues  is  by  a  never-ceasing  infliction. 
We  say  approximately,  because,  tested  strictly,  the  endless  suffering 
of  a  finite  being  is  not  strictly  infinite  suffering;  while  the  guilt  of  sin 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  105 

against  God  is  strictly  infinite.  It  is  the  degree,  together  with  the 
endlessness  of  the  suffering,  that  constitutes  the  justice  of  it.  The 
infinite  incarnate  God  suffered  more  agony  in  Gethsemane  than  the 
whole  finite  human  race  could  suffer  in  endless  duration." — Apropos 
of  what?  Augustine  started  this  "deplorable  sophism"  that  "a  sin 
against  an  infinite  being  must  deserve  an  infinite  punishment." 
Thomas  Aquinas  and  many  theologians  have  repeated  it.  Suppose 
you  reverse  this  argument.  Herod  the  Great's  sin  against  little  help- 
less babes  must  have  been  so  small  as  hardly  to  deserve  punishment. 
But  the  Teacher  says,  "It  would  be  better  for  him  that  a  great 
millstone  should  be  hung  around  his  neck,  and  he  be  sunk  into  the 
depths  of  the  sea."  (Matt.  i8:6.)  Is  it  true  that  the  greater  the 
being,  the  greater  should  be  his  vengeance? 

F.  W.  Farrar  advocates  "Eternal  Hope,"  but  repeatedly  says  that 
he  cannot  see  and  preach  universal  restoration.  He  also  repeatedly 
and  emphatically  records  his  belief  in  retribution  for  sins,  both  in 
this  life  and  that  which  is  to  come.  He  says,  "The  pain,  even  the 
eternal  pain  of  loss, — that  we  shall  receive  'according  to  our  works,' 
— Christ's  revelation  that  there  will,  in  the  life  to  come,  be  degrees 
of  punishment,  light  or  heavy,  in  proportion  to  the  degrees  of  guilt, — 
that  these  punishments  will  come  by  the  working  of  natural  laws; 
— that  the  penalty  is  not  the  arbitrary  infliction  of  external  agony; — 
that  a  soul  may  possibly,  even  forever,  by  its  own  act  and  its  own 
will,  shut  itself  out  from  the  presence  of  God,  and  be  unreclaimed 
even  by  the  bitter  taste  of  the  fruit  of  its  own  doings; — these  are 
doctrines  neither  unjust  nor  unmerciful,  nor  is  there  anything  in 
them  which  revolts  and  maddens  the  conscience  and  the  instincts 
of  mankind." 

As  you  read  this,  recall  what  is  said  of  Farrar  under  the  "Per- 
sonal Equation."  This  emphasizes  it.  He  continues  with  the  false 
assertion  that  "these  alone  are  the  doctrines  of  Scripture"  and  de- 
nouncing "torments  and  excruciating  physical  pangs  during  billions 
of  ages  for  every  second  of  sin"  and  so  forth.  It  is,  however,  the  one 
point  of  retribution  for  sin,  other  than  that  death  by  which  the  Son 
of  God  established  righteousness,  that  he  is  in  accord  with  the  almost 
universal  dictum  of  sj'Stematic  theology,  and  which  ought  to  be  brought 
to  the  test  by  every  one  who  would  uphold  the  Gospel  of  God. 

Farrar  says,  "Retribution  beyond  the  grave  is  revealed."  "Natural 
laws  which  are  the  Divine  laws  of  retribution  bv  which  all  evil  is 


I06  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

punished,  until  it  is  repented  of,  both  in  this  world  and  beyond  the 
grave."  "These  parables  of  Judgment  are  full  of  awful  warning, 
they  dwell  on  the  warning  and  not  the  hope.  It  is  on  this  very  ground 
that  I  cannot  teach  that  all  souls  will  be  saved."  He  deprecates 
Semitic  "metaphors,"  but  seems  to  fall  before  the  "parables."  He 
says,  "I  believe,  in  accordance  with  what  the  church  has  ever  held, 
that  as  unrepented  sin  is  punished  here,  so  also  it  is  punished  beyond 
the  grave;  that  among  the  punishments  of  the  world  to  come  there 
are  'few  stripes'  as  well  as  'many  stripes;'  that  there  will  be  degrees 
of  blessedness  and  degrees  of  punishment  or  deprivation ;  that  no 
sinner  can  be  pardoned  or  accepted  till  he  has  repented,  and  till  his 
free  will  is  in  unison  with  the  Will  of  God ;  and  I  cannot  tell  whether 
some  souls  may  not  resist  God  forever."  His  published  creed 
("Mercy  and  Judgment")  closes  with  words  that  redeem  much  mis- 
conception and  to  which  every  true  believer  can  say  Amen.  "I  believe 
in  the  coming  of  that  time  when, — though  in  what  sense  I  cannot 
pretend  to  explain  or  to  fathom, — 

"GOD  WILL  BE  ALL  IN  ALL.  GLORY  TO  GOD." 
Here  are  some  other  words  of  Farrar:  "There  is  a  terrible  retri- 
bution upon  impenitent  sin,  both  here  and  hereafter.  Sin  cannot  be 
forgiven  till  it  is  forsaken  and  repented  of" — (this  for  all  in  bliss  or 
misery).  Referring  to  the  dead  of  Westminster  Abbey,  he  says, 
"Many,  though  not  saints,  were  yet  noble,  though  erring  men,  and  of 
whom  (though  they,  and  we  alike,  shall  suffer,  both  here  and  here- 
after, the  penalty  of  unrepentant  sin)  we  j'et  cannot  and  will  not 
think  of  as  damned  to  unutterable  tortures  by  irreversible  decrees." 
"In  common  with  all  Christians  I  believed  that  there  would  be  a 
future  punishment  of  unrepented  sin." 

Popular  ideas  are  far  from  definite,  but  it  might  be  admitted  that 
there  is  future  discipline  in  the  school  of  God.  May  we  not  at  least 
consider  the  idea  that  future  pains  are  on  account  of  "ignorance  and 
unbelief"  of  God,  and  that  these  are  not  visited  by  penalty.  Do  not 
think  that  this  is  too  fine  a  distinction.  It  is  to  confess  the  integrity 
and  sufficiency  of  Christ's  work  in  "becoming  sin  for  us"  that  this 
point  is  pressed.  The  penalty,  the  only  Scriptural  penalty,  for  sin 
was  paid  when  the  First-born  of  all  creation  went  down  into  death 
and  took  the  whole  old  creation  with  Him.  This  is  a  matter  of 
faith.  This  is  no  Natural  Religion,  Natural  Religion  is  not  of  faith ; 
it  is  of  works. 


PUNISHMENT   OR    DISCIPLINE  IO7 

Those  who  believe  that  Sempiternity  is  revealed  in  the  Bible, — 
from  Farrar,  who  elaborates  every  phase  of  hope  and  still  admits  the 
possibility  of  eternal  self-will  in  awful  sin  to  few  perhaps,  but  cer- 
tainly to  some,  if  they  continue  rebellious;  down  to  those  who  give  most 
lurid  descriptions  of  physical  and  mental  torment  in  Hell,  Tertul- 
lian,  Augustine,  Dante,  Calvin,  Edwards,  Spurgeon, — have  brought 
perverted  natural  legal  ideas  and  the  Gospel  of  God  concerning  His 
Son  into  a  mixture  that  vitiates  both.  Paul  condemns  this  mixture. 
Can  you  not  see  that  Natural  Religion  is  wholly  within  the  sphere 
of  law,  and  that  it  recognizes  a  Law-giver  who  is  not  allowed  to 
bring  the  Gospel  into  Court?  All  believers  in  future  retribution, 
short  or  long,  mild  or  severe,  are  under  law  and  fallen  from  Grace 
in  this  particular.  These  worshipers  of  an  unknown  god,  who  are 
under  the  law  to  the  extent  of  believing  in  endless  retribution,  and 
who  do  not  go  to  the  extreme  of  punishment,  fly  to  other  forms  of 
error,  and  attempt  to  mitigate  these  horrors  by  inventions  of  the 
natural  man.  "They  have  sought  out  many  inventions"  (Eccl.7  :  29), 
and  a  "purgatory  of  discipline  furnishes  the  anesthetic  that  dulls  the 
spiritual  senses." 

Now,  there  is  evidence  a-plenty,  if  it  will  only  be  considered,  that 
pains  and  penalties  do  not  make  the  natural  man  any  better,  neither 
in  earthly  penitent-iaries  nor  in  Hadean-pains.  Before  we  stir  up  this 
miasmatic  mess,  profitable  only  to  mass-sellers,  unprofitable  spiritually, 
take  a  Scriptural  antiseptic.  Heb.  9:26,  "Now  once  for  all  at  the 
ends  of  the  eons  hath  He  been  manifested  to  put  away  sin  by  the 
sacrifice  of  Himself;"  Heb.  i  :  3,  "when  He  had  made  purification 
from  sins,  seated  Himself  on  the  right  hand  of  the  Majesty  on  high." 
Official  church  "purgation"  is  accomplished  by  masses  and  prayers 
for  the  dead,  and  by  minute  consideration  of  what  is  due  to  sinners 
of  all  sizes,  colors,  and  circumstances.  Those  Balaamites  advertise 
"sin  cleansing"  by  pain,  fire,  stripes,  despair,  etc.,  etc.  Their  charge 
is  graduated  by  what  the  traffic  will  stand.  "The  fire  of  Purgatory 
boils  the  monk's  saucepan."  May  we  not  "reform"  this  into — "The 
fire  of  Hell  boils  the  parson's  potatoes."  Sins  are  made  mortal  and 
venial,  wholesale  and  retail;  God,  they  say,  must  have  penance  and 
satisfaction,  both  here  and  hereafter,  even  from  those  who  are  par- 
doned. "The  merit  of  Christ's  death  does  not  satisfy  justice,  does  not 
procure  a  full  remission  of  sin  before  death,  nor  [as  it  may  happen] 
for  a  long  time  after"  (Jeremy  Taylor,  pp.  192-195).    They  imagine 


I08  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

that  "when  God  doth  remit  sin,  and  the  punishment  eternal  thereto 
belonging,  He  reserveth  the  torments  of  hell-fire  to  be  nevertheless 
endured  for  a  time,  either  shorter  or  longer,  according  to  the  quality 
of  men's  crimes."  The  ancient  Fathers  also  speak  almost  unanimouslj'^ 
of  a  fire  of  purgation  after  this  life.  A  wearisome  list  could  be  made 
of  those  in  every  generation  from  the  completion  of  the  Bible  on, 
who  thus  find  the  work  of  Christ  insufficient.  If  the  Father  thought 
Christ's  work  does  not  make  one  meet  to  be  a  partaker  of  the  in- 
heritance of  the  saints  in  light,  can  any  amount  of  fire,  soap  and 
water,  phj'^sical  and  mental  torture,  accomplish  anything?  Take  hold 
of  this;  the  evils  of  pain  and  penalty  do  not  make  anyone  better; 
discipline  in  itself  does  not  make  better.  Discipline  can  but  bring 
despair  of  self  and  drive  the  soul  to  the  only  source  of  good.  And 
if  there  never  had  been  a  sin  committed  up  to  date,  yet  discipline  was 
necessary  if  the  ignorant  was  to  learn  of  God ;  and  every  finite  creature 
suffers  from  ignorance  and  needs  to  be  taught  of  God.  Sin  is  a 
temporary  evil;  a  transgression  of  a  temporary  law  (Gal.  3:  19,  20). 
Its  experience  is  calculated  to  break  down  self-sufficiency  and  con- 
fidence, from  the  Anointed  Cherub  down  to  the  unclean  demons,  or 
the  lowest  human  being.  As  an  evil,  sin's  consequences  are  discipli- 
nary. No  evil  makes  the  creature  good,  but  all  evil,  sin  included, 
makes  a  man  dissatisfied  and  tends  to  make  him  cry  for  help.  "Help 
cometh  from  God!"  Jesus  Christ  of  Nazareth!  "There  is  salvation 
by  no  other,  for  there  is  not  another  name  under  heaven  given  among 
men,  by  w^hich  we  can  be  saved."  "Every  good  gift  and  every  perfect 
gift  comes  from  above,  descending  from  the  Father  of  lights,  with 
whom  there  is  not  a  change  of  position  or  shadow  of  variation." 

In  the  attempt  to  soften  down  Hell  so  that  they  could  believe  in  it 
and  not  believe  in  it  at  the  same  time,  we  have  F.  W.  Faber  and 
Cardinal  Newman  telling  us  "how  to  be  happy  in  hell."  The  Cardi- 
nal pictures  the  pains  of  purgatory  as  almost  bliss.  "In  the  willing 
agony  he  plunges  and  is  blest,"  probably  a  perversion  of  Phil.  2:  10, 
where  "the  triumph  of  Jesus  is  seen  in  the  worship  of  the  under- 
world." (Bickersteth.)  Farrar  says  of  the  church's  tolerance  of 
these  ameliorating  details:  "In  the  doctrine  of  an  intermediate  state 
with  its  possible  purgatorial  and  probatory  fire;  in  the  permitted 
practice  of  prayer  for  the  dead ;  in  the  revealed  fact  of  Christ's  descent 
into  Hades;  in  the  belief  that  mitigations  (for  good  behavior?) 
would  be  granted  to  the  lost  souls,  the  Catholic  Church  has  given 


PUNISHMENT    OR    DISCIPLINE  109 

comfort  and  hope  to  those  who  find  a  stumbling  block  in  the  remorse- 
lessness  of  human  fancies." 

Justice!  Justice!  Supreme  Justice!  is  the  cry  of  these  modern 
eternalists.  Their  gospel  proclaims  a  brief  opportunity  in  which  by 
self-determination  and  repentance  they  have  shown  themselves  to  be 
"not  like  other  men."  They  are  like  the  pharisaic  mob  around  a 
county  jail  shouting,  "Lynch  him!"  "Lynch  him!"  This  is  zeal  for 
justice  without  appeal.  Is  it  Judge  Lynch,  Judge  Moloch,  that 
settles  human  destiny  ?  Why  do  these  same  lawyers  scorn  Mariolatry  ? 
Her  worshipers  turn  from  the  "Great  Moral  Governor  of  the  Uni- 
verse," who  is  set  forth  as  nothing  but  a  judge  of  a  criminal  court, 
to  the  human  mother,  blessed  above  women,  for  relief.  As  if  God 
does  not  claim  for  Himself  more  tenderness  than  a  mother  (Isa. 
49:  15).  Their  God  sends  to  hell;  their  Mother  Mary  saves  from 
purgatorial  fires, 

Farrar  sees  from  his  uncertain  legal  viewpoint  that  the  majority 
of  men  are  just  "middling"  when  they  die.  Heaven  is  too  good  for 
them  and  Hell  is  too  bad,  and  if  there  is  not  a  purgatory,  there  ought 
to  be  one.  He  would  call  it  the  "Intermediate  State,"  in  which  he 
"hopes"  but  cannot  assuredly  believe.  "Forgiveness"  is  the  one  great 
act  of  God  which  saves!  This  is  the  false  position  of  so  many  that 
one  despairs  of  all  professed  theologians.  "Forgiveness  of  sins  is 
not  salvation."  You  might  forgive  the  devil  for  all  the  ill  that  he 
has  done  to  you, but  that  would  not  change  his  character.  (Gal. 6: 15.) 
"There  exists  the  tyranny  of  words,  rabble-charming  words  which 
have  much  wild-fire  wrapped  up  in  them, — a  certain  bewitching  or 
fascination  which  makes  them  operate  with  a  force  beyond  what  we 
can  naturally  give  account  of"  (Jas.  3:  5-12).  Minds  that  have  ap- 
parently no  independent  power  of  thought  seize  upon  these  catch- 
words. Peter  warns,  "In  greed  shall  they  with  feigned  words  make 
merchandise  of  you." 

Here  are  a  few  words  that  have  misled  millions — hell,  damnation, 
everlasting,  eternity.  "There  are  men,  or  rather  ecclesiastical 
magnates  who  regard  popular  misconceptions  as  too  useful  and 
profitable  to  be  corrected." 

"Endless  penalty  could  have  been  revealed  in  terms  that  would 
have  left  no  dispute.  The  absence  of  these  terms  in  passages  dealing 
with  destiny,  when  compared  with  their  use  elsewhere  in  the  Bible, 
is  very  striking.     If  Gehenna  had  but  once  been  called  atelentos. 


no  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

or  aperantos,  or  adiale'iptos ,  or  that  life  in  such  punishment  should  be 
aphthartos.  Or  if  the  chains  "were  akatalutos  (that  could  not  be 
loosed).  Christian  writers  have  used  these  expressions,  but  they  are 
not  to  be  found  in  Holy  Writ." — Farrar. 

"Mankind  believe  in  Hell,  as  they  believe  in  the  Divine  existence, 
by  reason  of  their  moral  sense.  Men  do  not  get  rid  of  their  fear  of 
future  punishment ;  it  is  intrenched  in  man's  moral  constitution." 
(Shedd.)  This  is  Natural  Religion.  A  Divine  Gospel  alone  will 
deliver  a  man  from  "a  conscience  of  sin"  and  a  "fearful  looking  for- 
ward to  judgment."  "Because  of  the  endlessness  of  sin."  "Sin  is 
being  added  to  sin  in  the  future  life  and  the  amount  of  guilt  is  ac- 
cumulating." "Eternity  of  punishment — exact  justice  for  sins  done 
in  the  body."  How  is  justice  to  be  satisfied  for  sins  endlessly  ac- 
cumulating? This  zeal  for  justice  is  like  the  Jew's  zeal  for  God. 
It  ignores  the  Gospel  of  God. 

We  might  speculate.  Is  justice  established  for  the  wrong  done 
to  another  human  being  by  this  endlessly  punished  sinner.  He  stole 
a  thousand  dollars  and  brought  poverty  to  his  victim.  He  killed  the 
son  and  brought  grief  to  the  family.  How  is  justice  to  be  satisfied 
for  that?  His  victim  must  sufifer  endless  wrong.  Let  those  who  have 
zeal  for  law  but  not  for  Gospel,  answer.  Will  God  permit  endless 
injustice  along  with  endless  law  and  endless  sin  and  endless  punish- 
ment? The  Devil  wronged  Eve.  Will  punishment  right  Eve's  wrong? 
One  man  wrongs  another  man.  If  the  evil-doer  goes  to  sempiternal 
torment,  will  this  in  any  way  restore  the  victim's  right?  If  the 
evil-doer  repents  and  dwells  in  endless  bliss,  and  his  victim  goes  to 
endless  misery,  the  question  is  the  same.  Think  of  all  the  wrongs 
sufiFered  by  the  weak  ones  in  the  habitations  of  cruelty.  The  great 
mass  of  these,  according  to  the  advocates  of  hell,  suffer  endless  tor- 
ments for  rejecting  the  Savior.  But  The  First-born  from  the  dead  is 
the  GAAL,  the  redeemer,  the  avenger  of  all  wrong — shall  not  the 
victim  be  requited?  Does  law  do  anything  in  the  way  of  restitution 
here?  No,  for  the  idea  is  not  even  broached  by  either  side  of  the 
controversy.  The  relation  of  the  Judge  and  the  criminal  is  considered 
from  every  standpoint,  but  that  of  man  to  man  is  ignored.  Scripture 
says  that  "no  man  liveth  unto  himself,"  and  no  man  goeth  to  his 
destined  future  to  himself  alone.  The  Universe  has  but  one  Head, 
and  nothing  can  exist  apart  from  that  life-giving  Spiritual  Head,  not 
even  the  famous  "self-determined"  one.     "He  giveth  to  all  life  and 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  III 

breath  and  all  things."  "In  Him  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being."  Who  is  authorized  or  prepared  to  say  from  Scripture  that  it 
ever  will  be  otherwise?  Believer!  If  you  have  wronged  your  neigh- 
bor beyond  your  power  to  remedy,  your  salvation  will  not  make  that 
right.  Must  you  not  commit  to  the  risen  Christ  the  righting  of 
all  wrongs?  And  will  the  Head  of  the  New  Creation  not  cut  short 
His  work  in  righteousness?  Even  should  Christ  condescend  to  be 
a  minister  of  law,  would  He  tolerate  the  law's  delays?  endlessly? 
There  will  be  no  unfinished  business  left  when  He  is  done.  Do  not 
take  refuge  in  generalities.  What  is  the  standard  which,  if  attained 
to,  makes  a  man  right  with  God?  secures  a  verdict  of  "not  guilty?" 
How  is  that  standard  attained?  Adam  was  righteous.  "God  made 
m.an  upright."  Is  this  the  standard?  The  Decalog  is  the  standard 
of  the  Sinaitic  covenant.  The  "Righteousness  of  God"  apart  from 
law! — is  it  not  this  which  gives  its  possessor  to  have  "no  more  con- 
science of  sin?" 

Note  how  a  wrong  standpoint  distorts  the  entire  view,  in  the 
following  from  Dr.  Shedd.  "With  the  Christian  Gospel  in  hi> 
hands  the  defender  of  Divine  justice  finds  it  difficult  to  be  entirely 
reticent,  and  say  not  a  word  about  the  Divine  mercy.  Over  against 
God's  infinite  antagonism  and  righteous  severity  toward  moral  evil, 
there  stands  God's  infinite  pity  and  desire  to  forgive.  This  is  realized 
not  by  the  high-handed  and  unprincipled  method  of  pardoning  without 
legal  satisfaction  of  any  kind,  but  by  the  stupendous  method  of  putting 
the  Eternal  Judge  in  the  place  of  the  human  criminal ;  of  substituting 
God's  own  satisfaction  for  that  due  from  the  man.  In  this  vicarious 
atonement  for  sin,  the  Triune  God  relinquishes  no  claims  of  law,  and 
waives  no  right  of  justice.  The  sinner's  Divine  substitute,  in  His 
hour  of  voluntary  agony  and  death,  drinks  the  cup  of  primitive  and 
inexorable  justice  to  the  dregs!  Any  man,  who,  in  penitent  faith, 
avails  himself  of  this  vicarious  method  of  setting  himself  right  with 
the  Eternal  Nemesis  will  find  that  it  succeeds.  But  he  who  rejects  it 
must  through  endless  cycles  grapple  with  the  dread  problem  of  human 
guilt  in  his  own  person,  and  alone."  Here  is  human  dogmatism, 
presumption,  assumption,  dictatorial  complacency,  professorial  pro- 
fundity, zeal  for  justice  that  slights  the  gospel;  adulterated  theology, 
subtle  (or  is  it  unconscious?)  choice  of  misleading  words,  a  perversion 
of  the  Truth. — O,  it  will  pass,  time  and  again,  with  a  silly  laity  that 
does  not  discriminate,  and  so  will  a  counterfeit  hundred-dollar  bill. 
8 


112  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

God  "defended"  justice  by  the  cross.  His  Sovereign  gracious  gift  is 
something  more  even  than  "merc3^"  He  not  only  had  a  "desire"  to 
forgive.  He  has  forgiven  every  last  sinner.  It  was  not  a  Judge  that 
was  crucified ;  it  was  God's  Son.  It  was  more  than  "atonement," 
that  was  a  temporary  "covering"  only;  the  word  is  not  used  after  the 
sin  of  the  world  was  "put  away."  Jesus  "drinks  the  cup  of  punitive 
and  inexorable  justice  to  the  dregs," — but  the  professor  turns  it  over 
to  be  drunk  again  by  an  assumed  "final  rejecter"  who  never  heard  of 
the  offer  he  is  said  to  reject.  Then  imagine,  if  you  can,  every  lost 
victim  of  the  law  "grappling  with  the  dread  problem"  through 
endless  cycles. 

The  reader  should  confine  these  vituperations  strictly  to  the  public 
utterances  above  quoted,  without  prejudice  to  the  excellences  of  char- 
acter or  value  of  achievement  which  friends  of  the  Doctor  may 
know  of.  The  extract  is  picked  out  for  a  vituperable  example. 
Every  man  is  responsible  for  what  he  publishes. 

This  "ofTer"  of  mercy  and  forgiveness,  the  acceptance  or  rejection 
of  which  must  be  made  during  a  brief  opportunity;  and  the  decision 
so  made  to  be  the  last  chance  of  a  so-called  "self-determination"  to 
fix  an  endless  condition,  gives  the  impression  that  the  offer  is  mainly 
to  justify  God  in  exercising  a  vengeance  which  there  is  no  escaping. 
Is  this  the  stingy  way  that  God  "sets  forth"  his  "propitiatory"  in 
Romans  3  ?  Is  this  the  tone  of  God's  beseeching  the  world  to  be 
reconciled  in  II  Corinthians  5?  It  may  be  justly  demanded  that 
men  pay  tithes  of  mint,  anise,  and  cumin,  but  the  very  nature  that 
God  claims  for  Himself  should  not  be  ignored.  "God  is  Love." 
Is  this  infinitely  important  fact  to  be  dismissed  as  sentimentality 
which  has  no  place  in  a  Criminal  Court?  Love  is  His  nature. 
Justice  is  a  principle  that  must  be  subject.  It  is  written  again  that 
righteousness  was  established  by  one  act  of  the  Son.  Justice?  When 
the  Infinite  One,  w^ho  says  that  His  nature  is  Love,  is  dealing  with 
one  of  His  finite  creatures,  is  this  tremendous  disparity  of  wisdom 
and  nature  to  be  exercised  to  the  detriment  of  the  weaker  one  only, 
or  does  not  The  Almighty  Himself  accept  responsibility?  He  does, 
and  so  far  from  any  shirking.  His  Blessed  Representative  says,  "Lo,  I 
come,  in  the  volume  of  the  book  it  is  written  of  Me,  I  delight  to  do 
Thy  Will,  O  God!"  "I  am  Jehovah  thy  Godr  Who  is  your  God? 
What  is  His  name?  What  is  His  nature?  Why  is  the  important 
truth  of  Christ's  Headship  to  be  put  out  of  Court?    WTiy  not  search 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  II3 

the  Scripture  on  this  doctrine  and  render  unto  God  the  faith  that  is 
His  due?  A  father  may  act  judiciously  in  his  own  family,  but  he 
does  not  have  to  do  violence  to  his  fatherhood  in  order  to  maintain 
justice.  "I  am  Jehovah  thy  God  which  brought  thee  out  of  the  land 
of  Egypt,  out  of  the  house  of  bondage."  All  the  perverseness  of  Jacob 
has  not  caused  Jehovah  to  withdraw  as  a  party  to  that  covenant. 
Why  not  joyfully  proclaim  the  steadfast  security  of  this  Rock?  Why 
not  credit  Jehovah  with  His  Divine  initiative?  What  perverts  the 
theologian  to  write,  "There  is  no  necessity,  so  far  as  the  action  of 
God  is  concerned,  that  a  single  human  being  should  ever  be  the  subject 
of  future  punishment"  and  this  by  one  who  holds  the  common  per- 
verted view  of  election.  As  if  God  folded  His  hands  and  threw  the 
whole  responsibility  upon  man,  or  rather  upon  that  humbug,  "Free- 
will." Take  it,  or  leave  it!  And  even  if  "doomed"  by  a  "rejection" 
of  that  which  they  never  heard  of?  O,  yes!  They  are  "without 
excuse,"  but  who  is  to  say  that  God  who  "beseeches"  us  to  be  recon- 
ciled, has  presented  all  possible  inducements  to  move  the  soul  of 
these  others?  "Without  excuse?"  These  speakers  for  super- 
punishment  make  God  act  a  part  that  is  also  "without  excuse."  God 
has  some  rights  that  man  is  bound  to  respect.  He  objects  to 
being  represented  as  other  than  He  is,  as  acting  humanly  rather 
than  Godly.  "Thou  verily  thoughtest  I  was  altogether  such  a  one 
as  thyself."     (Ps.  50:  21.) 

Note  the  order  of  Scripture, — judgment  first,  then  mercy  based 
on  justice  satisfied.  "I  kill"  first;  God  destro^-s,  condemns  all  evil, 
but  He  "makes  alive."  He  saves  all  good,  all  that  is  redeemed  from 
the  law,  all  the  new  creation,  in  short,  all  "in  Christ ;"  and  The  Uni- 
verse is  "in  Christ"  risen.  Head  over  the  Universe  (Eph.  1:21). 
The  intelligent  part  of  the  Universe  is  "in  Christ"  before  they  believe, 
by  virtue  of  purchase,  and  by  virtue  of  resurrection  power  and  purpose. 
"All  Souls  are  mine."  "Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  of  the  living" 
(Rom.  14:  9).  All  live  to  Him.  The  "penalty"  is  paid.  If  we  die, 
we  pay  no  penalty,  we  "die  unto  the  Lord."  One  paid  the  penalt>s 
no  other  ever  did,  nor  ever  will,  so  far  as  "justice"  is  concerned. 
There  are  other  principles  of  God  that  should  receive  due  attention. 

Wisdom  hath  builded  her  house.  She  hath  set  up  the  seven  pillars 
thereof  (Proverbs  9).  Discipline,  the  training  of  spiritual  senses  by 
exercise,  is  one  of  these  pillars.  It  is  one  principle  of  Divine  pedagogy. 
MoQ-sahr   occurs  in  Proverbs  30  times  and  is  rendered,  instruction, 


114  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

chastening,  correction.  Hos.  5 :  2  has  rebuke,  and  Job  36:  10  has 
discipline.  It  is  used  first  in  Deut.  11:  12,  and  Verses  1-9  rehearse 
the  dealings  of  Jehovah  with  Israel  from  Egypt  to  Jordan  as  discipline. 
See  also  Heb.  5:  11-14.  Physical  and  spiritual  "setting-up"  exercises 
may  be  painful,  but  the  result  justifies  the  practice. 

"Penalty"  is  inflexible,  irremissible ;  the  integrity  of  the  law  re- 
quires it.  The  declared  penalty  for  transgression  of  God's  law  is 
death,  the  whole  of  death,  and  nothing  but  death.  Legalists,  denying 
the  Gospel,  have  invented  a  Purgatory  and  a  Hell.  They  have 
exhausted  language  to  intensify  all  imaginable  torments  as  penalty 
for  sin.  They  have  made  sin  and  its  penalty  an  endlessly  increasing 
horror.  They  would  make  void  the  "Gospel  of  God  concerning  His 
Son,"  the  propitiation  set  forth  for  the  whole  world,  and  the  gift  of 
resurrection  life  on  the  bases  of  the  established  righteousness  of  God. 
The  wages  of  sin  is  death  and  when  the  Head  of  all  creation  entered 
into  death,  the  wages  was  paid,  sin  settled,  and  Grace  made  regnant. 

Platonian  "immortality  of  the  soul"  requires  definition.  "Soul" 
in  the  Bible  is  that  which  loves  and  hates;  emotional.  What  a  Soul 
loves,  that  it  is.  Soul  desires  are  either  good  or  bad.  Deathlessness 
of  soul  is  deathlessness  of  desire.  Immortality  of  the  spirit  would  be, 
M'hat?  The  spirit  is  intelligence  and  reason.  God  is  Supreme  Intel- 
ligence. Body  apart  from  spirit  is  dead,  even  as  faith  and  works 
apart  are  dead.  The  Supreme  Spirit  is  not  mortal;  He  is  one  and 
indivisible.  Man  is  mortal ;  his  organism  may  disintegrate  into  body 
— soul — spirit.  In  this  condition  the  man  is  dead.  The  corpse  is  not 
dead  as  an  entity  until  it  returns  to  dust.  The  soul  separated  from 
the  body  can  have  no  bodily  desires.  But  in  death  soul  and  spirit 
still  have  some  relation.  If  the  spirit  is  not  conscious,  the  soul  would 
not  act  (as  in  sleep),  for  its  desires  must  be  of  the  body,  or  of  the 
spirit. 

Death  apart  from  the  Cross  has  never  been  a  penalty;  it  has  been 
a  Providential  act  of  expediency.  For  Enoch  and  many  Millennial 
millions  will  not  see  death,  while  Abel  and  millions  of  righteous  ones 
have  died.  "As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive." 
Enoch  was  translated  that  he  should  not  see  death.  He  was  mortal, 
yes  dead  in  Adam.  He,  as  part  of  the  old  creation,  died  and  paid 
the  penalty  when  Christ  died  (II  Cor.  5:  15).  Immortality  for 
Enoch  was  in  Christ,  not  in  Adam.  This  is  true  of  all;  there  is  no 
immortality  of  the  Adamic  soul.     Platonic  immortality  of  the  soul 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  II5 

u'as  a  necessity  in  the  philosophy  of  man  if  he  was  to  suffer  a  future 
penalty.  And  this  immortality,  so-called,  was  a  bodiless  one.  Why 
should  Christendom  go  to  Christ  for  a  pardon,  but  to  Plato  for  an 
immortal  soul?  The  believer  should  believe  "in  Christ  all"  as  truly 
as  "in  Adam  all."  And  yet  the  Episcopal  prayer-book  is  allowed  to 
perpetuate  the  phrase,  "eternal  death." 

Shedd  says,  "Take  the  doctrine  of  eternal  perdition,  and  the 
antithetic  doctrine  of  eternal  salvation,  out  of  the  confessions  of 
Augustine,  out  of  the  Sermons  of  Chrysostom;  out  of  the  'Imitation 
of  a  Kempis;'  out  of  Bunyan's  'Pilgrim's  Progress;'  out  of  Jeremy 
Taylor's  'Holy  Living  and  Dying;'  out  of  Baxter's  'Saints'  Ever- 
lasting Rest;'  and  what  is  left?"  "Left?" — A  new  creation  of  which 
Christ  is  the  Head  and  in  which  God  is  all  in  all  is  something  left, 
even  if  infinity  is  not  made  comprehensible  to  a  limited  creature. 

Krima,  judgment.  John  9:  39,  Then  Jesus  said,  "I  came  into  the 
world  to  be  a  Separator,  So  that  those  who  do  not  see  may  see  [i.  e., 
the  blind  man]  and  that  those  who  see  may  become  blind"  [i.  e.,  the 
Pharisees] — "because  you  say  'we  see,'  therefore  your  sin  remains." 
Separator,  the  word  is  Krima,  judgment. 

Acts  24:  25,  "and  the  judgment  about  to  come."  This  is  the 
Millennial  judgment  of  Messiah,  fulfilling  prophecy.   (So  Heb.  6:2.) 

Rom.  5:  16,  "for  though  the  judgment  {Krima)  was  out  of  one 
to  condemnation"  {Katakrima).  This  was  the  mind  of  God  ex- 
pressed in  Eden,  In  fact,  even  then  by  anticipation,  Christ  in  Head- 
ship died  for  all,  thus  paying  the  penalty.  So  that  Enoch,  seeing  this, 
escaped  death  by  faith. 

Rom.  1 1 :  32,  33,  "How  unsearchable  His  judgments!"  And  what 
was  this  judgment  that  calls  forth  an  exclamation  of  praise?  What 
but  His  statement  that  His  act  shutting  up  all  to  unbelief  (not  sin) 
was  "that  He  might  have  mercy  upon  all!"  Thus  His  judgment 
establishes  righteousness  and  clears  the  way  for  universal  mercy. 

Rev.  18:20,  "Rejoice  over  her,  heaven,  and  the  saints,  and  the 
apostles  and  the  prophets!  for  God  did  execute  your  judgment  upon 
her."  Babylon  is  a  city  and  a  system,  the  fall  of  w^hich  may  w'ell 
cause  rejoicing.  This  does  not  decide  the  fate  of  her  inhabitants  any 
more  than  the  fall  of  the  tower  of  Siloam  did  those  who  were 
killed  by  it. 

Rev.  20:4,    "And   judgment    was   given    unto    them,"    i.e.,    the 


Il6  -  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

righteous  according  to  Rev,  6:  lO,  ii;  n:  i8,  the  time  to  right  the 
wrongs  of  the  dead,  and  "the  rewarding  of  your  own  servants." 

Krino.  John  5:  22,  "The  Father  judgeth  no  man."  John  8:  15, 
16,  "I  judge  no  man,  and  j'et  if  I  judge,  My  judgment  is  true." 

Acts  17:  30,  31,  "God,  however,  overlooking  those  periods  of 
ignorance,  now  calls  to  all  men  everywhere  to  change  their  mind; 
because  He  has  appointed  a  day  in  which  He  is  about  to  judge  the 
habitable  earth  with  justice  by  a  Man  whom  He  has  provided." 
Messiah  is  about  to  judge  the  living  for  1,000  years.  This  is  not  the 
Theologians'  Great  Assize.     This  is  the  function  of  a  King. 

Krisis  (Matt.  10:  15).  En  hemera  kriseos,  no  article  (Matt.  11 : 
22,24;  12:36). 

John  12:31,  Now!  is  the  crisis  of  this  world!  The  Son  of  man 
is  to  be  lifted  up.  This  overthrows  the  prince  of  this  world.  This 
by  death  overcomes  death ;  i.  e.,  the  penalty  is  paid  once  for  all,  and 
death  ceases  to  be  punishment.     It  is  made  null  and  void! 

Heb.  9:27,  "Forasmuch  as  it  was  appointed  unto  man  once  for 
all  to  die  and  after  that,  judgment,  thus  the  Christ,  once  dying  and 
having  been  judged  righteous  and  successful  by  resurrection,  will  when 
he  appears  the  second  time,  do  so,  apart  from  sin !"  The  sin  having 
been  settled.  Christ  having  thus  met  the  appointment  that  was  due 
every  man,  proclaims  death  a  nullity,  judgment  passed,  His  coming 
looked  for  by  the  living  who  believe,  and  after  the  thousand  years, 
a  dealing  with  the  dead  who  will  then  see  and  believe  as  Saul  of 
Tarsus  did.  All  the  discipline  imagined  in  a  purgatorial  state  and 
all  the  agonies  of  an  imaginary  hell,  are  not  God's  appointed  agencies 
of  regeneration  or  purification.  One  look  did  the  business  for  Saul 
of  Tarsus,  and  one  look  at  the  Face  of  the  One  Enthroned  on  the 
Great  White  Throne  (and  that  look  the  first  one  from  Cain  down) 
will  accomplish  more  than  all  the  pangs  of  the  old  creation,  Augustine 
and  Predestine  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding.  Heb.  10:27,  "a 
fearful  looking  for  of  judgment."  Of  course,  if  Cain,  and  the 
Hebrew,  and  you  turn  the  back  to  Jesus  Christ,  j^ou  will  see  nothing 
but  the  logical  conclusions  of  a  guilty  conscience;  but  if  any,  from 
Cain  to  the  last  ignoramus,  will  but  look  into  the  face  of  Jesus,  they 
will  see  Him,  who  is  declared  to  be  the  same  yesterday,  to-day  and 
for  the  eons. 

Jude  15,  Coming  to  execute  judgment  for  one  thousand  years. 


PUNISHMENT    OR    DISCIPLINE  II7 

Heb.  4:12,  The  word  of  God  is  a  Judge  (kritikos)  discerner — 
dividing  between  soul  and  spirit. 

Matt.  3 :  10-12.  Dr.  Beet  says,  "This  teaches  retribution  beyond 
the  grave."  John  preached  the  Kingdom  at  hand.  Messiah,  the  King 
of  the  Jews,  takes  into  His  kingdom,  when  He  comes,  repentant 
Israel,  but  to  Apostate  Israel  there  is  the  one  thousand  years  of 
discipline.  These  are  the  two  goals  of  the  two  paths  of  Matt.  7 : 
13,  14,  and  of  Vs.  19-27.  This  occurs  at  the  end  of  this  eon 
(Matt.  13:24-30,39-43,48-50;  16:  27  ,-25:  41-46;  John  3:  36).  All 
judgment  is  given  to  the  Son  of  Man,  who  acts  in  this  character  for 
the  eon,  establishing  righteousness  on  earth.  After  the  thousand 
years,  The  Son  of  God,  who  giveth  life,  will  deal  with  the  dead. 
It  is  assertion  only  when  Dr.  Beet  says  that  these  Messianic  disposi- 
tions, which  Christ  makes  as  King  of  Kings  over  living  nations, 
"evidently  refer  to  retribution  beyond  the  grave." 

"That  the  Christian  teaching  of  retribution  beyond  the  grave 
occupies  so  small  and  indefinite  a  place  in  the  Old  Testament,  in  con- 
trast to  its  large  place  in  the  religion  of  ancient  Egypt,  and  in  the 
teaching  of  Plato,  is  one  of  the  most  perplexing  facts  in  Old  Testa- 
ment theolog\\"  (Dr.  Beet.)  (And  see  Judith  16:  17;  Wisdom 
2:23;  3:  1-4;  Enoch  51:  I ;  53:2;  54:6;  58:3;  "Josephus's  Wars," 
Bk.  II,  8;  "Antiquities,"  Bk.  XVIII,  i :  3-5.)  Plato's  philosophical 
setting  forth  of  future  retribution  has  been  welcomed  and  appealed 
to  as  confirmatory  of  the  place  given  it  in  the  theology  of  churches 
and  Bible  Institutes. 

Dean  Gray,  "The  rich  man  lifted  up  his  eyes  in  Hades,  but  as  he 
was  experiencing  torment,  it  is  evident  that  he  was  in  that  part  of 
Hades  known  commonly  as  'Hell.'  "  (i)  "This,"  he  argues,  "makes 
Hell  a  place,  and  locates  it  in  Hades."  "The  punishment  of  the 
wicked  is  for  deeds  done  in  the  body;  (2)  they  are  to  be  raised  and 
judged  in  their  bodies;  (3)  Jesus  speaks  of  the  body  being  cast  into 
'Hell.'  "  (Matt.  5:  29,  30;  10:  28.)  (4)  "Gehenna  is  thus  located 
in  Hades."  "In  the  empire  of  the  dead  (5)  (Hades),  there  is  one 
place,  Abraham's  Bosom,  or  Paradise,  corresponding  to  'Elysium'  for 
the  righteous,  and  another  'Hell,'  or  'Gehenna'  as  it  is  sometimes 
called,  corresponding  to  'Tartarus'  for  the  wicked." 

(i)  This  is  far  from  "evident."  See  meaning  of  this  parable, 
elsewhere.  (2)  II  Cor.  5:  10,  This  phrase  occurs  here  only. 
The  "judgment  seat  of  Christ"  is  limited  to  the  coming  eon,  and  is 


Il8  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

wrongly  used  to  bolster  up  the  false  idea  of  a  "final  great  criminal 
assize"  whose  findings  are  said  to  be  endless.  (3)  The  Scripture 
says  "the  dead."  The  Dean  says  "the  resurrected."  (4)  Gehenna, 
see  p.  127.  (5)  "Of  the  dead,"  this  would,  then,  describe  a  condi- 
tion before  resurrection  and  final  sentence. 

Eternal  penalty  is  a  long-drawn-out  vague  issue,  contrary  to  the 
decisive  Divine  effectiveness  that  leaves  nothing  in  an  unfinished  state. 
Plumptre  says  much,  but  very  little  decisively.  He  speaks  of  "Uni- 
versal Restoration"  as  a  half-truth  and  of  endless  penalty  as  another 
half-truth.  This  compromises.  If  there  are  paradoxes  in  the  Divine 
curriculum,  they  are  for  the  true  learner  to  exercise  his  spiritual  senses 
upon.  If  we  will  dismiss  human  vagaries  which  appeal  to  natural 
sense  alone,  we  will  clear  the  subject  of  much  that  "darkens  counsel." 

Plumptre,  "punishment  (kolasis)  in  Hades  is  remedial  and  re- 
formatory and  leads  to  repentance,  and  this  work  is  easier  for  those 
who  are  no  longer  hampered  by  the  flesh!" 

Jeremy  Taylor,  "Conditional  immortality  is  less  to  be  objected  to 
than  the  fancy  of  Origen;  (Universal  Restoration)  (i)  for  it  is 
strange  to  suppose  an  endless  torment  to  those  to  whom  it  was  never 
threatened,  to  those  who  never  heard  of  Christ,  to  those  who  lived 
probably  well,  to  heathens  of  good  lives,  to  ignorant  and  untaught 
people,  to  people  surprised  in  a  single  crime,  to  men  that  die  young 
in  their  natural  follies  and  foolish  lusts,  to  those  that  fall  in  a  sudden 
gaiety  and  excessive  joy,  to  all  alike:  to  all  infinite  and  eternal,  even 
to  unwarned  people,  and  that  this  should  be  inflicted  by  God,  who 
infinitely  loves  His  creatures,  (2)  Who  died  for  them.  Who  pardons 
easily,  and  pities  readily,  and  excuses  much,  and  delights  in  our  being 
saved,  and  would  not  have  us  die,  and  takes  little  things  in  exchange 
for  great.  It  is  certain  that  God's  mercies  are  infinite,  and  it  is  also 
certain  that  the  matter  of  eternal  torment  cannot  be  understood.  And 
even  when  the  Schoolmen  go  about  to  reconcile  the  Divine  justice  to 
that  severity,  and  consider  why  God  punishes  eternally  a  temporal  sin 
or  a  state  of  evil,  they  speak  variously,  and  uncertainly,  and  unsatis- 
factorily." But  then  the  Bishop  goes  on  in  the  same  old  traditional 
church  teaching,  (i)  If  this  read  "Tertullian,"  we  could  see  more 
consistency  in  what  follows.  (2)  How  legal  all  these  writers  are! 
As  if  man's  nature  was  nothing,  and  account  was  kept  of  acts  of  crime 
alone,  which,  being  pardoned  to  the  penitent,  was  salvation,  but  which 
unrepented  of  was  unforgiven  and  punished.      How   did   the  poor 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  119 

layman  under  these  lawyers  get  enough  gospel  to  believe,  and  experi- 
ence salvation  ?    The  layman's  ignorance  was  the  church's  treasury. 

F.  D,  Maurice,  "What  dream  of  ours  can  reach  the  words  of 
St.  John  that  Death  and  Hades  shall  be  cast  into  the  Lake  of  the  Fire? 
But  they  are  written  —  I  accept  them,  and  give  thanks  for  them. 
I  feel  there  is  an  abyss  of  death  into  which  I  may  sink  and  be  lost. 
Christ's  gospel  reVeals  an  abyss  of  Love  below  that.  I  am  content 
to  be  lost — in  that." 

Sir  Harry  Vane,  Whichcote,  Milton,  Taylor,  Borrow,  Ray,  were 
together  at  Cambridge. 

H.  MacAdam  (1900),  "After  60  years  listening  to  teachers  and 
preachers,  I  can  recall  very  few  who  have  not  shown  a  taint  of  legality, 
when  they  speak  of  the  future."  Gradually  "becoming  fit"  for 
Heaven,  and  "legal  penalties  for  sinners"  and  kindred  expressions 
are  common. 

Rev.  Rudolph  Suffield,  twenty  years  "Apostolic  Missionary,"  says: 
"We  never  expected  virtue  or  high  motives  or  a  noble  life  from  the 
fear  of  hell ;  but  we  practically  found  it  useless  as  a  deterrent.  It 
always  influenced  the  wrong  people  in  a  wrong  way.  It  caused 
infidelity  to  some,  temptation  to  others,  and  misery  without  virtue 
to  most.  It  appealed  to  the  lowest  motives  and  the  lowest  characters; 
not,  however,  to  deter  them  from  vice,  but  to  make  them  willing 
subjects  of  sad  and  often  puerile  superstitions." — White's  "Life  in 
Christ." 

Can  the  apples  of  Sodom  and  the  clusters  of  Gomorrah  grow  in 
the  same  soil  with  the  Tree  of  Life? 

Burdens  to  yourselves,  curses  to  the  world,  you  can  yet  become 
true  sons  of  God. 


"Should  I  be  nearer  Christ,  she  said, 
By  pitying  less 
The  sinful  living  or  woful  dead 

In  their  helplessness? 
And  the  angels  all  were  silent. 

"Should  I  be  liker  Christ  were  I 
To  love  no  more 
The  loved,  who  in  their  anguish  lie 

Outside  the  door? 
And  the  angels  all  were  silent. 


120  CHRIST    VICTORIOUS   OVER    ALL 

"Did  He  not  hang  on  the  cursed  tree, 
And  bear  its  shame? 
And  clasp  to  His  heart,  for  love  of  me. 

My  guilt  and  blame! 
And  the  angels  all  were  silent. 

"The  Lord  Himself  stood  by  the  gate. 

And  heard  her  speak 
Those  tender  words  compassionate, 

Gentle  and  meek; 
And  the  angels  all  were  silent. 

"Now  pity  is  the  touch  of  God 

In  human  hearts. 
And  from  that  way  He  ever  trod 

He  ne'er  departs; 
And  the  angels  all  were  silent." 

— From  Olrig  Grange. 

These  legalists  say  that  arguments  based  on  God's  character  are 
not  to  be  used;  but  one  of  their  own  strong  points  is  made  on  the 
judicial  character  of  the  "Great  Moral  Governor  of  the  Universe." 
"Justice  demands."  Yes,  Justice  demands  justice,  but  Love  de- 
mands love.  When  the  demands  of  justice  have  been  fully  met  and 
satisfied  by  One  who  took  the  responsibility  upon  Himself,  then  Love 
is  free  to  act,  and  Grace  reigns.  Who,  then,  would  fear  the  action 
God  would  take?  Can  He  act  out  of  character?  Does  Scripture 
draw  no  inferences  from  the  Divine  Character?  Yes!  Many.  "He 
is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  behold  iniquity"  (and  pass  it  by).  "Shall  not 
the  Judge  of  all  the  earth  do  right?"  pleaded  Abraham. 

Gen.  3 :  20,  Did  not  Adam  draw  an  inference? 

Job  14:  15,  Job  draws  an  inference. 

Ps.  11:6,  For  Jehovah  is  righteous. 

Ezek.  36:22,  For  My  Holy  Name. 

Ps.  29 :  2,  The  Glory  due  unto  His  Name. 

Men  of  God  have  good  warrant  for  some  inferences,  and  they 
have  not  hesitated  to  draw  them.  We  can  count  on  success !  on  God 
satisfied  !  on  the  Triumph  of  Love !  on  Justice  satisfied !  We  have 
to  draw  inferences  or  leave  eternity  alone,  for  Christ  is  the  Alpha 
and  the  Omega.  We  trust  in  the  changelessness  of  God.  We  do  not 
have  to  harmonize  Love  and  everlasting  torment.     We  are  about  to 


PUNISHMENT   OR   DISCIPLINE  121 

embark  on  an  unknown  sea;  we  learn  all  we  can  about  the  Captain, 
the  vessel ;  we  trust  ourselves  on  inferences  of  good  import.  The 
Captain  is  not  a  pirate.  "I  will  trust  and  not  be  afraid."  Heaven 
is  not  described  to  us,  though  earthly  glory  is.  The  latter  is  the 
fulfilment  of  a  covenant,  and  Abraham  went  forth,  not  knowing 
Canaan.     And  all  must  go  forth,  not  knowing  Eternity. 


CHAPTER  VIII 

HEAVEN,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC. 

Persons  and  Places,  Celestials,  Terrestrials,  Subterrenes, 
Their  Eonian  Course  and  Destiny 

Heavens  and  Earth,  the  Grave,  Thanatos,  Hades  and  Lower 
Hades,  Sheol,  Gehenna,  Tartarus,  the  Lake  of  the  Fire,  Death, 
After  Death,  Resurrection  and  a  New  Creation!  God  all  in  all! 
Life  in  Christ,  the  assurance  of  something  bej^ond!  The  momentous 
epoch  but  two  chiliads  distant!  How  God  is  magnified  to  us,  as 
faith  lays  hold  of  the  revealed  future! 

Heaven.  Our  English  translations  show  the  usual  negligence  of 
detail  in  the  rendering,  "Heaven."  A  study  of  the  singular,  dual, 
and  plujal  of  the  original  will  reward  the  diligent.  The  word  occurs 
in  the  Old  Testament  458  times,  always  in  the  dual  number.  Con- 
sider this  in  the  manner  of  Heb.  9:  8-10,  23,  and  it  would  appear  that 
the  second  and  third  heavens  were  not  then  differentiated.  The  two 
heavens  were  the  visible  and  invisible.  The  veil  was  not  then  rent 
that  opened  up  the  Holiest. 

In  the  New  Testament,  Heaven  occurs  94  times  and  heavens  189 
times.  The  singular  is  used  in  Matt.  5:18,  till  heaven  and  earth  pass. 
In  Matthew,  "kingdom  of  the  heavens"  is  always  plural.  So-called 
because  it  is  the  kingdom  that  the  "God  of  the  Heavens  shall  set  up" 
(Dan.  2:44)  after  Anti-Christian  kingdoms  have  been  destroyed. 
"Son  of  man  coming  in  the  clouds  of  heaven"  (Matt.  24:  30).  By  the 
singular  number  and  the  mention  of  clouds,  we  know  that  the  sky, 
the  first  heaven,  is  meant,  and  that  this  appearance  is  in  Christ's 
material  resurrection  body.  When  the  Church,  the  "body"  of  Christ, 
is  mentioned,  the  plural  is  used,  as  its  place  in  Christ  is  above  all 
heavens.  This  differentiates  between  those  called  up  above  (Phil. 
3:  14;  Col.  3 :  i)  where  Christ  sitteth,  and  the  saints  caught  up  to 
meet  the  Lord  in  the  air.  These  latter  saints  have  an  earthly  destiny, 
and  they  return  with  "the  Son  of  Man"  (I  Thess.  4:  13-18). 
Capernaum  was  exalted  up  to  the  sky  (not  heaven)  and  cast  down 
to  Hades  (not  hell).  The  covenant  people  were  promised  the  bliss 
of  the  Millennial  reign.  When  they  look  up  they  see  the  sky.  Jesus 
disappears  into  the  sky;  when  He  returns  He  appears  to  them,  out 

122 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  123 

of  the  sky.  If  Stephen  sees  Jesus,  or  John  has  a  vision,  the  sky  opens. 
But  in  this  dispensation  "our  citizenship  is  in  the  heavens;"  we  are 
blessed  "in  the  heavenhes,"  "seated  vv^ith  Christ  in  the  heavenlies," — 
all  plural. 

Dan.  4:  17,  "The  heavens  do  rule,"  man  in  the  first  heaven,  his 
feet  on  earth ;  Angels  in  the  second  heaven,  messengers  between  the 
two;  Christ  in  the  third,  where  the  Mercy-Seat  is.  The  opposite  of 
this  is,  first  the  grave,  second  and  third.  Hades  and  Lower  Hades. 
The  Scripture  puts  highest  Heaven  and  lowest  Hades  in  contrast, 
not  Heaven  and  Gehenna.  Hades  and  Gehenna  differ.  The  Divines 
of  161 1  who  revised  the  English  Bible  had  one  heaven  above  for  the 
good  and  one  hell  below  for  the  bad,  and  this  they  thought  was 
enough  for  the  Humans.  They  ignored  Greek  singulars  and  plurals 
apparently  without  rhyme  or  reason.  This  idea  of  there  being  nothing 
but  Elysian  fields  for  the  good  and  Tartarean  chains  for  the  bad,  as 
the  pagan  idea  of  justice  demands,  is  practically  the  doctrine  of 
Christendom  to-day.  But  Paul  tells  us  that  in  the  triumph  of  the 
Son  of  God,  every  knee  shall  bow,  of  Celestials  and  Terrestrials  and 
Subterrenes.  Here  are  mentioned  dwellers  in  three  different  parts 
of  the  Universe.  And  there  are  three  classes — angels,  men,  and 
demons.  With  the  exception  of  Paul's  later  writings,  where  the 
heavenly  body  is  revealed,  there  is  no  Scripture  that  makes  Heaven 
the  destiny  of  any  human  being.  The  earth  was  given  the  children 
of  men;  the  destiny  of  the  covenant  people  and  of  the  great  mass  of 
Gentiles  is  the  new  earth.  The  few  expressions  picked  up  elsewhere 
point  to  the  Millennial  reign  of  Christ  and  "His  right  hand"  there. 
The  rewards,  the  treasure  laid  up,  the  "well  done,  good  and  faithful," 
refer  to  Israel,  the  servant  of  Jehovah. 

The  "exceeding  riches  of  grace"  in  the  glory  of  the  heavenly  body, 
and  the  oneness  in  Christ  of  believers  of  this  dispensation,  make  the 
mention  of  rewards  for  service,  and  crowns,  and  thrones  but  as 
theatrical  tinsel  compared  with  the  wealth  of  Ind.  "In  My  Father's 
house  are  many  mansions"  is  to  be  taken  in  connection  with  John  2:16. 
It  refers  in  the  future  to  the  Millennial  mansions  for  the  priests  of 
the  kingdoms,  who  serve  with  the  Millennial  Temple.  The  first 
heaven  and  earth  flee  away  from  the  face  of  Him  who  sits  on  the 
Great  White  Throne.  The  blaze  of  this  throne,  like  the  Holiness 
of  God,  is  bliss  to  the  purified,  and  torment  to  the  unclean.  It  is 
this  unveiled  glory,  limited  only  by  the  Universe,  that  is  the  Lake 


124  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

of  the  Divine  Fire.  In  its  Light,  Thanatos  and  Hades  are  gone; 
there  is  no  Gehenna,  no  Tartarus.  It  is  no  more  "punishment"  than 
the  physical  results  of  Paul's  experience  with  it  was  when  it  shone 
out  brighter  than  the  noonday  sun.  The  glory  of  Christ  thus  shines 
throughout  the  seventh  chiliad ;  but  the  greater  glory  of  the  Son  of 
God  shines  out  for,  let  us  say,  possibly,  an  eighth  chiliad,  the  Scriptural 
"Day  of  God." 

Death,  the  disorganization  of  body,  soul,  and  spirit,  is  the  penalty 
of  broken  law.  The  whole  principle  of  the  thing  was  demonstrated 
in  Eden.  There  was  one  Law,  one  transgression,  one  man,  and  one 
penalty.  The  covenant  of  the  Law  was  but  a  repetition  and  con- 
tinuation of  the  same  principle  for  some  1,520  years.  Note  this: 
God  never  did  what  man  does;  enunciate  law  and  penalty  as  one 
absolute  system  of  justice.  The  Tree  of  Life  was  in  the  same  soil 
as  the  forbidden  tree;  the  ceremonial  gospel  and  priesthood  was  an 
elaborate  accompaniment  of  the  covenant  of  works.  The  judgment 
of  God  is  not  executed  as  a  bare  principle;  the  ends  of  the  Lord  are 
always  good,  and  merciful;  more  than  justice. 

Men  died,  from  Adam  to  the  crucified  malefactor,  with  two  ex- 
ceptions; the  body  was  buried  in  the  grave  by  man;  the  soul  (nephesh) 
and  Spirit  (ruach)  went  down  to  Hades.  (Sheol.*)  Men  have 
died,  but  this  was  not  to  pay  the  penalty;  that,  was  provided  for 
representatively.  Adam  named  his  wife  Eve  (Living)  because  this 
sentence  was  not  then  and  there  executed.  For  four  thousand  years 
the  one  act  of  the  foreordained  Surety  and  Redeemer  was  anticipated. 
He,  as  representative  Head,  in  place  of  Adam,  became  responsible 
for  all  sin  and  penalty.  "We  thus  judge  that  one  died  for  all,  then 
all  died  (II  Cor.  5:  14).  "I  was  crucified  with  Christ,"  says  Paul 
(Gal.  2 :  20 ;  Rom.  5  :  1 5  ;  6 :  6 ;  Col.  3:3).  On  this  basis  the  penalty 
for  all  sin  is  paid.  Scripture  recognizes  disciplinary  pains,  and 
discipline  is  the  function  of  all  evil.  But  men  die? — Yes,  but  this  evil 
is  no  exception.  With  God  it  is  a  matter  of  expediency  in  connection 
with  the  education  of  His  creatures.  Otherwise,  can  you,  by  the 
principle  of  justice  alone,  account  for  the  fact  that  "by  faith,  Enoch 
was  translated  that  he  should  not  see  death."  Or  for  the  rapture  of 
the  living  when  Messiah  comes?  Or  for  the  fact  that  after  the 
completion   of   the   resurrection   of   the   righteous,   now   within   one 


*Eccl.  12:  7  does  not  say  where  God  keeps  those  Old  Testament  spirits  when  they 
"return"  to  Him.     "Return  to  God"   does  not  locate  them. 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  125 

century,  no  other  righteous  man  will  die?  Millennial  millions  are 
born ;  they  do  not  die,  but  pass  on  through  to  the  last  and  deathless 
eon.  If  any  son  of  Adam  died  as  a  penalty,  how,  on  the  bare  prin- 
ciple of  righteous  retribution,  can  these  great  numbers  escape?  If  evil 
of  any  kind  continues  after  the  penalty  is  paid,  it  must  be  for  spiritual 
discipline.  Learn  to  look  at  these  things  from  the  viewpoint  of  Christ. 
He  is  the  center  of  God's  dealings,  not  man. 

Matt.  27:  52,  and  the  tombs  were  opened,  and  many  bodies  of 
the  saints  that  had  fallen  asleep  were  raised ;  and  coming  forth  out 
of  the  tombs  after  His  resurrection  they  entered  into  the  holy  city 
and  appeared  to  many. 

Eph.  4 :  8,  "When  He  ascended  on  high.  He  led  captivity  captive." 
That  this  expression  does  not  mean  enemies,  but  friends  in  captivity, 
is  seen  from  Jer.  31:23  and  Judges  5 :  12,  21 ;  the  river  Kishon 
"swept  away  the  enemy"  and  the  captives  who  were  of  Israel  were 
led  back  home  in  triumph.  The  righteous  dead  from  Abel  to  the 
crucified  malefactor  were  in  a  state  of  captivity  to  Death.  This  de- 
liverance is  hailed  with  the  shout,  "Where  is  thy  victory,  O  Thana- 
tos?"  These  are  in  the  charge  of  angels,  in  the  second  heaven;  they 
return  to  earth.  The  blessings  of  the  Millennial  reign  are  to  be 
theirs  by  covenant  and  promise.  This  is  accepting  what  is  written; 
it  is  not  denying  the  unknown  future. 

Sheol,  Hades,  names  of  a  place,  occur  in  the  singular  number  only. 
The  grave  is  the  place  where  bodies  are  put.  The  location  of  Sheol 
is  described  in  Ps.  63:9;  139:15;  Isa.  44:23;  Ezek.  31 :  14,  16,  18; 
32:  18-24,  "the  heart  of  the  earth."  Jacob,  Heman,  Jonah,  go  down 
to  Sheol,  down  to  the  fathers. 

W.  G.  T.  Shedd  strongly  asserts  that  Sheol  and  Hades  is  the 
modern  hell  where  the  wicked  suffer  unending  torment  for  sin. 
Dean  Torrey  says  that  Hades  is  not  "hell,"  but  that  Gehenna,  the 
lower  compartment  of  Hades,  is  hell.  Job  says,  "As  the  cloud  is 
consumed  and  vanishes  away,  so  he  that  goeth  down  to  Sheol  shall 
come  up  no  more.  He  shall  return  no  more  to  his  house,  neither 
shall  his  place  know  him  any  more."  This  refers  to  the  old  earth 
which  flees  before  the  Great  White  Throne. 

The  definiteness  of  Sheol  as  a  locality  is  demonstrated  by  the 
descent  of  Korah,  Dathan  and  Abiram  and  their  company,  as  they 
went  down  alive,  body,  soul,  spirit;  when  the  crust  of  the  earth  opened 
for    their    passage.     This    is    the    antithesis    of    Elijah's    whirlvWnd 


126  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

ascent.  All  these  return  to  earth  in  accordance  with  the  unconditional 
covenant.    Lower  Sheol  is  called  "The  Pit"  ( Ps.  30 :  3  ;  Zech.  9:11)- 

The  state  of  death  is  temporary.  Sheol's  naked  spirits  differ  and 
their  conditions  differ,  but  there  is  no  penal  fire  there.  Certain  angels 
that  sinned  are  imprisoned  by  the  darkness  of  Tartarus.  (II  Peter 
2:4.)  Demons  are  in  the  pit  of  the  abyss  (Rev.  9:2),  the  entrance 
closed.  Weakness  is  mentioned  in  Isa.  14:  10;  it  is  like  drought  and 
heat  to  sinners  (Job  24:  19);  there  is  no  thankfulness  (Ps.  6:3; 
Isa.  38:18);  a  place  of  silence,  of  stagnation,  no  news,  no  work, 
no  device  (Eccl.  9:10).  It  is  cruel  (Sol.  8:6);  there  is  gloom, 
there  is  waiting.  There  may  be  a  negative  sort  of  comfort  there. 
This  is  an  Old  Testament  picture.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ 
has  changed  this  for  all  the  righteous;  they  rose  with  Him.  Now 
none  but  the  ungodly  are  there.  They  continue  in  ignorance  and 
unbelief  until  they  face  the  Great  White  Throne.  In  hopeless 
ignorance  they  await  their  doom,  which  to  their  minds  is  punishment, 
for  they  have  no  knowledge  of  the  gospel  to  give  them  hope.  Messiah 
did  not  forget  the  spirits  in  prison,  He  will  not  forget  the  ignorant 
godless  in  Sheol,  nor  the  demons.  But  when  change  comes,  it  is  God 
who  initiates  it.  They  had  ears  but  they  heard  not;  now  that  their 
ears  are  dust,  their  naked  spirits  must  meet  the  naked  truth.  This 
experience,  as  has  been  stated,  is  not  penalty  for  sin  or  sins.  It  is 
disciplinary,  that  the  wearied  spirit  may  be  ready  to  listen  to  God. 
All  this  is  not  purgatorial,  it  does  not  make  them  "fit"  nor  even  better. 
It  is  a  gracious  act  of  God  that  works  for  good  when  the  heart  listens. 
Grod  says  that  His  power  for  good  is  in  Christ  crucified,  "Christ,  the 
power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of  God"  (I  Cor.  i :  24).  No  other 
name  is  given,  no  other  agency  will  do  the  good  work;  certainly  not 
pains  and  penalties,  though  they  have  such  a  large  part  to  play  in  the 
providence  of  God. 

In  this  dispensation,  of  all  others,  how  could  the  believer  go 
astray  on  this?  He  was  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  wreck  of  the 
first  cosmos  (Eph.  1:4).  "For  we  are  His  workmanship,  created  in 
Christ  Jesus."  This  present  dispensation  began  about  the  time  of 
Acts  28.  When  a  believer,  a  chosen  member  of  the  body  of  Christ, 
dies,  or  better,  as  Paul  describes  it,  when  this  earthly  house  of  our 
tenting  is  dissolved  (II  Cor.  5:1),  when  this  bodily  garment  is  thrown 
off,  what  shall  cover  the  "naked"  spirit?  Not  Hades.  Its  "own 
body"  will  come  at  the  appointed  resurrection  time,  but  meanwhile 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  127 

what? — Well,  if  the  body  of  the  Gadarene  demoniac  could  accom- 
modate five  thousand  unclean  spirits,  we  may  trust,  as  no  other  place 
is  indicated,  that  the  body  of  the  Risen  Lord  will  house  all  the  spirits 
of  the  members  of  His  heavenly  "body"  who  may  die.  This  is  the 
suggestion  of  C.  J.  Baker,  now  testing  the  reality  of  his  belief.  There, 
in  blessed  consciousness,  the  spirit  attains  most  perfect  knowledge, 
to  be  manifested  at  the  resurrection  of  the  body  (IT  is  sown, 
IT  is  raised). 

Advocates  of  Hell  have  abandoned  "Hades"  as  its  Scripture 
synonym,  and  fall  back  on  "the  Gehenna  of  the  fire,"  and,  as  a  last 
resort,  on  "The  Lake  of  the  Fire."  This  is  rightly  the  "Divine" 
fire,  not  "brimstone." 

"Gehenna"  is  revealed  in  the  New  Testament  in  connection  with 
the  kingdom ;  the  king  on  his  Millennial  throne  administering  Divine 
justice.  The  "life,"  to  gain  which  is  worth  the  loss  of  hand,  or  eye, 
is  life  in  the  eon  to  come  when  Messiah  reigns.  As  some  pass  through 
the  antichristian  persecution,  they  may  thus  literally  enter  that  eon 
maimed.  The  Gehenna  of  the  fire  will  burn  unquenched  one  thou- 
sand years.  As  some  of  these  passages  have  the  definite  article,  they 
are  thus  connected  with  the  well-known  valley  of  the  Old  Testament. 
Jeremiah  prophesies  of  this  valley  thus:  "And  they  have  built  the  high 
places  of  Topheth,  which  is  in  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  to 
burn  their  sons  and  their  daughters  in  the  fire ;  which  I  commanded 
not,  nor  came  it  into  My  heart.  Therefore,  behold,  the  days  come, 
saith  Jehovah,  that  it  shall  no  more  be  called  Topheth,  nor  the 
Valley  of  the  Son  of  Hinnom,  but  the  Valley  of  Slaughter;  for  they 
shall  bury  in  Topheth,  till  there  be  no  place  to  bury,  and  the  corpses 
of  this  people  shall  be  food  for  the  birds  of  the  heavens,  and  for  the 
beast  of  the  earth,  and  none  shall  frighten  them  away."  "At  that 
time,  saith  Jehovah,  they  shall  bring  out  the  bones  of  the  Kings  of 
Judah,  and  the  bones  of  his  princes,  and  the  bones  of  the  prophets, 
and  the  bones  of  the  inhabitants  of  Jerusalem,  out  of  their  graves; 
and  they  shall  spread  them  before  the  sun,  and  the  moon,  and  all  the 
host  of  heaven,  which  they  have  loved,  and  which  they  have  served, 
and  after  which  they  have  walked,  and  which  they  have  sought,  and 
which  they  have  worshipped;  they  shall  not  be  gathered,  nor  be 
buried,  they  shall  be  for  dung  upon  the  face  of  the  earth"  (Jer.  7: 
31-38;  8:  1,2).  "The  time  of  their  visitation"  (Jer.  8:  12).  "All 
flesh  shall  come  to  worship  before  me,  saith  Jehovah,  and  they  shall 
9 


128  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

go  forth,  and  look  upon  the  carcasses  of  the  men  that  have  trans- 
gressed against  Me ;  for  their  worm  shall  not  die,  neither  shall  their  fire 
be  quenched  and  they  shall  be  an  abhorring  to  all  flesh"  (Isa.  66:  24). 
Here  is  what  our  Lord  called  to  the  memory  of  the  Jews  that  He 
addressed  from  the  Mount.  This  is  no  indefinite  modern  hell  that 
cannot  be  located.  John  saw  this,  "And  I  saw  an  angel  standing  in 
the  sun,  and  he  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying  to  all  the  birds  that 
fly  in  mid-heaven.  Come,  be  gathered  together  unto  the  great  supper 
of  God;  that  ye  may  eat  the  flesh  of  kings,  and  the  flesh  of  captains, 
and  the  flesh  of  mighty  men;  and  the  flesh  of  horses,  and  of  them 
that  sit  thereon,  and  the  flesh  of  all  men,  both  free  and  bond,  both 
small  and  great"  (Rev.  19:  17,  18).  Again,  here  is  Gehenna,  but 
one  thousand  years  is  its  limit.  It  begins,  if  human  chronology  is 
not  very  much  in  error,  within  one  hundred  years.  This  is  no  "bar 
of  God,"  with  all  men's  sins  up  for  the  judge,  at  some  unscriptural 
"general  judgment"  in  the  far  distant  future,  with  endless  vengeance 
against  sin  and  sinners.  It  is  at  the  coming  of  the  Son  of  Man,  as 
described  in  Matt.  25:  31,  46,  that  this  crisis  occurs,  ushering  in  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven.  "Of  course,"  if  you  call  a  "church"  a  "king- 
dom," you  will  find  this  hard  to  place;  but  make  a  try;  it  is  good  that 
your  spiritual  senses  be  exercised,  that  you  may  grow  in  knowledge. 

"The  Lake  of  the  fire,  the  Divine"  (Rev.  20:  10;  so  also  19:  20 
and  21  :  8, — not  "brimstone").  The  definite  article  here  bids  us  look 
back  to  see  where  the  Lake  is  defined.  It  is  something  known  to 
those  addressed,  the  Jewish  churches  of  the  end  time. 

"The  fire  of  Jehovah"  (I  Kings  18:  38;  Num.  11 :  33;  II  Kings 
i:  12).  Ex.  24:  16,  "And  the  Glory  of  Jehovah  rested  on  the  Hill 
of  Sinai,  and  the  cloud  covered  it  six  days,  and  the  glory  of  Jehovah 
appeared  like  a  consuming  fire  on  the  head  of  the  mountain  to  the 
eyes  of  the  children  of  Israel!"  But!  Moses  went  up  into  that  fire, 
and  when  he  came  down  there  was  a  reflection  of  Glory  on  his  face. 
Why  be  so  crass  as  to  imagine  that  the  Lake  of  the  Divine  Fire  is  of 
the  same  nature  as  Nebuchadnezzar's  furnace?  (See  also  Ex.40: 
34-38;  Lev.  8:33,36;  9:6;  10:2.)  Jehovah's  glory  accepting  the 
tabernacle,  and  lighting  the  fire  upon  the  altar.  The  scene  is  repeated 
in  Solomon's  temple.     (II  Chron.  7:  1-3;  5:  14;  I  Kings  8:  11.) 

See  further  Num.  14:  10,  21,  22;  16:  19,  20,  42.  This  Divine 
Glory-fire  produced  physical  results,  both  in  destruction  and  blessing 
(Ps.  102:  15,  16).    See  Ezekiel's  vision  (Ezek. i :  28;  2:12,  23;  8:  4; 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  129 

9:3;  10:4,  etc.)-  In  10:  18,  the  glory  departing;  in  43:2;  44:4, 
the  glory  returning.  Now  note  this,  when  this  glory  returns,  what 
is  it  but  the  very  same  "epiphany  of  His  parousia"  by  which  the 
Lord  Jesus  will  bring  to  naught  the  Lawless  One?  (II  Thess.  2:8.) 
And  if  you  want  to  know  how  this  glory  appears  to  the  antichristian 
hosts,  read  the  account  of  this  very  same  scene  as  it  is  described 
in  Rev.  19:  19-21,  "they  two  were  cast  alive  into  the  lake  of  the 
Divine  Fire." 

There  is  much  more  of  this  to  be  found  in  the  Bible.  Read 
Lev.  10:  1-6.  Nadab  and  Abihu,  sons  of  Aaron,  priests  at  the  dedica- 
tion of  the  tabernacle,  took  too  much  wine;  they  took  sacred  incense 
to  offer  before  Jehovah,  but  instead  of  taking  the  Divinely  kindled 
coals  from  the  altar,  they  sprinkled  it  upon  "strange  fire;"  strange 
to  the  Divine  Sanctuary,  but  ordinary  to  the  people  outside!  "There 
came  forth  fire  from  before  Jehovah  and  devoured  them,  and  they 
died  before  Jehovah."  Then  two  of  their  kindred  drew  near,  "and 
carried  them  in  their  coats  out  of  the  camp."  The  fire  of  Jehovah 
accomplishes  exactly  the  will  of  Jehovah,  and  no  more.  The  very 
coats  of  the  offenders  retained  strength  enough  to  sustain  their  corpses. 
Now  ask  yourself  if  the  hell-fire  and  brimstone  of  Christendom  is  not 
strange  fire  for  our  God  to  use  when  for  six  thousand  years  He  has 
used  Divine  fire?  Yes!  Well  may  Israel  say,  "Our  God  is  a  con- 
suming fire,"  but  we  may  ask,  Just  what  will  this  Fire  consume  and 
what  will  pass  through  it  purified  ? 

"The  idea  of  a  material  miraculous  fire,  meant  to  keep  men  alive, 
in  pain,  without  destroying  them  is  a  human  fiction." — F.  W .  Farrar. 

He  will  burn  up  the  chaff,  the  tares,  the  severed  branch;  He  will 
cast  the  bad  fish  away;  He  will  cut  asunder  the  faithless  servant. 
All  these  are  preliminary  to  the  Millennial  reign.  The  individuals 
so  described  will  go  into  the  discipline  of  eonian  fire  (Divine  fire) 
for  a  thousand  years.  Their  resurrection,  and  establishment,  as  re- 
deemed and  regenerated  children  of  God  for  the  New  Creation  will 
be  a  part  of  the  concluding  works  of  the  Son  of  God  in  the  post- 
millennial  eon,  through  such  educational  agencies  as  He  may  choose. 
They,  too,  as  surely  as  the  first-born,  shall  be  "taught  of  God,"  and 
taught  through  the  first-born. 

Matt.  10:  28,  but  fear  Him,  who  has  power  to  destroy  both  soul 
and  body  in  (a)  Gehenna.  The  passage.  Matt.  5 :  21,  26,  refers  to 
legal  penalties  for  three  degrees  of  murder  according  to  the  practice 


I30  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

of  Jewish  courts.  The  most  severe  sentence  of  the  Sanhedrin  added 
to  the  death  penalty,  denial  of  burial,  and  degradation  of  the  body 
by  casting  it  into  Gehenna  to  be  consumed  by  birds,  worms,  or  fire. 
There  is  One,  if  He  so  wills  it,  who  has  power  to  ordain  (a)  Gehenna 
for  the  soul.  The  definite  article  being  absent,  the  word  is  used  here 
symbolically. 

Read  Num.  12:  5-8,  "And  Jehovah  came  down  in  a  pillar  of  cloud, 
and  stood  at  the  door  of  the  tent,  and  called  Aaron  and  Miriam,  and 
they  both  came  forth.  And  he  said.  Hear  now  My  words:  If  there 
be  a  prophet  among  you,  I,  Jehovah,  will  make  Myself  known  to  him 
in  a  vision,  I  will  speak  with  him  in  a  dream.  My  servant,  Moses,  is 
not  so ;  he  is  faithful  in  all  My  house :  with  him  will  I  speak  mouth 
to  mouth,  even  manifestly,  and  not  in  dark  speeches,  and  the  form 
of  Jehovah  shall  he  behold ;  wherefore  then  were  ye  not  afraid  to 
speak  against  My  servant  Moses?"  One  of  the  lessons  of  this  incident 
may  be  this:  Some  prophets  are  so  full  of  their  own  ideas  that  they 
must  be  asleep  before  God  can  get  a  proper  hearing.  If  body  and 
soul  should  both  be  out  of  commission,  the  Supreme  Spirit  can  speak 
to  spirit  with  no  distracting  element  to  hinder.  This  may  be  the 
reason  why  death  is  allowed  to  leave  the  great  number  of  spirits  naked 
before  God.  The  cares  of  this  life  have  to  be  removed.  In  Thanatos 
the  spirit  can  listen  to  God  undisturbed.  This  is  far  from  the  plane 
of  Moses's  fellowship,  and  far  below  that  of  those  who,  not  having 
seen,  yet  believe;  but  it  is  better  than  nothing. 

Matt.  23:  15,  Gehenna  is  anarthrous;  "child  of  Gehenna"  is  after 
the  form  of  expression,  children  of  the  wicked  one.  It  cannot  refer 
to  a  future  hell. 

Matt.  23 :  33  has  the  article.  The  Gehenna  condemnation  was  the 
third  decree  mentioned  in  Matt.  5:21,  on  which  passage  Farrar  says, 
"Our  Lord  is  speaking  of  three  degrees  of  sinful  anger,  and  telling  his 
hearers  that  it  had  been  a  law  for  their  fathers  that  a  murderer  was 
liable  to  'the  judgment,'  i.  e.,  the  decision  of  the  local  court  (Deut. 
16:  18).  He  came  to  give  a  more  searching  law  (for  his  kingdom), 
which  would  trace  to  its  very  source,  in  evil  thought  and  words,  the 
guilt  of  murder.  In  His  law,  whoever  is  angry  with  his  brother  is 
as  guilty  as  if  he  thereby  came  under  the  cognizance  of  the  Beth  Din 
with  its  sentence  of  death  by  the  sword  (Jos.  Ant.,  IV,  8:  14)  ;  if  he 
lets  his  anger  burst  forth  in  the  contumelious  word  'Worthless' 
(Jas.  2:  20,  O,  vain  man),  he  is  as  guilty  as  if  he  came  under  the 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  131 

cognizance  of  the  Sanhedrin,  or  Supreme  Court  of  Jerusalem;  if  his 
rage  is  so  ungovernable  that  he  uses  the  furious  taunt  'rebel'  (Deut. 
21 :  18-20)  [the  word  which  brought  Moses  and  Aaron  to  grief 
(Num.  20:  10)  ],  he  morally  deserves  the  severest  form  of  Jewish  sen- 
tence, that  which  ordered  his  body  to  be  burned  and  then  flung  forth  to 
be  consumed  in  the  Burning  Valley  (Lev.  20:  14).  (This  flinging 
forth  rests  on  tradition.)  Thus,  as  Bengel  says,  the  general  meaning 
is  that  by  these  forms  of  anger  a  man  practically  makes  himself  a 
homicide  in  the  first,  second  or  third  degree.  What  possible  con- 
nection has  this  with  endless  torment,  the  introduction  of  which 
renders  the  whole  passage  unintelligible?" 

But  here  is  the  way  another  writes  of  this  passage:  "The  uni- 
versal use  in  the  New  Testament  of  'Gehenna'  or  'Hell'  is  literal. 
Eleven  times  it  is  used  by  our  Lord  Jesus  himself,  and  he  uniformly 
uses  it  in  these  passages  (Matt.  5  :  22,  29,  30;  Mark  9:  45,  48)  of  a 
literal  hell.  He  certainly  meant  to  convey  the  impression  that  there 
was  a  literal  hell.  If  there  is  no  literal  hell,  then  either  Jesus 
thought  there  was  one  when  there  was  not,  in  which  case  He  was  a 
fool,  or  else  He  knew  that  there  was  not,  but  tried  to  make  men  think 
that  there  was,  in  which  case  He  was  a  fraud."  (Copyright,  19 18,  by 
R.  A.  Torrey,  Dean  of  the  Bible  Institute  of  Los  Angeles.)  Farrar 
hates  to  "soil  his  pages"  by  quoting  the  infamous  language  of  Bishop 
Tertullian,  of  the  second  century,  but  he  prints  it  in  Latin,  so  that 
it  will  hurt  nobody  but  theologians.  Robert  Anderson  says,  "Some, 
indeed,  have  used  language  which  betokens  pleasure  at  the  thought  of 
endless  torment;  but  apart  from  the  enthusiasm  or  the  bitterness 
of  controversy,  this  would  be  impossible.  Surely  there  is  no  one 
unwilling  to  be  convinced  that  hell  itself  shall  share  at  last  in  the 
reconciliation  that  God  has  wrought." 

"I  wish,"  writes  Dean  Torrey,  "that  the  things  that  I  am  going 
to  preach  tonight  ivere  not  true.  God  wishes  so,  too.  The  bodies  of 
the  lost  are  to  have  a  place  in  a  literal  physical  hell  of  fire; — their 
mental  agony,  the  agony  of  remorse,  the  agony  of  shame,  and  the 
agony  of  despair,  is  immeasurably  worse;  nevertheless,  a  physical 
suffering  to  which  no  pain  on  earth  is  anything  in  comparison,  is  a 
feature  of  hell."     (A.  D.  1918.) 

Dr.  J.  W.  Haley:  "We  cannot  doubt  that  the  Divine  condemna- 
tion will  weigh  down  the  guilty  soul  as  with  mountains  of  lead; 
that  God's  displeasure  will  blast  and  scathe  the  polluted  spirit  as  with 


132  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

the  breath  of  a  furnace.  The  burning  ej'e  of  Jehovah  will  forever 
rest  with  judicial  punitive  power  upon  the  perturbed  and  desolate 
spirit — till  the  very  air  he  breathed,  seemed  to  his  sense  one  universal 
flame  of  wrath,  the  wrath  to  come." 

Here  is  Farrar's  summing  up  on  "Gehenna:"  "Seeing  that  we 
naturally  turn  to  Jews  and  to  Jewish  writings  of  acknowledged 
authority  to  explain  their  own  technical  terms;  and  seeing  that  no 
writings  are  more  authoritative  with  the  Jews  than  the  Mishna  and 
Gemara,  and  no  Rabbis  are  so  highly  esteemed  as  Rabbis  Akiba  and 
Maimonides  and  Abarbanel ;  and  seeing  that  all  the  ancient  authorities 
are  at  one  with  the  highest  living  authorities  among  the  Rabbis  in 
saying  that,  in  the  view  of  their  church,  Gehenna  does  not  now  mean, 
and  has  never  meant,  a  doom  to  necessarily  endless  torment ;  and  seeing 
that  our  Blessed  Lord  always  used  technical  Jewish  words  in  their 
technical  Jewish  sense, — unless  he  avowedly  gave  them  a  different 
meaning, — I  should  have  thought  that  my  point  was  amply  proved. 
Namely,  that  Jesus  did  not  hold :  ( i )  The  finality  of  doom  passed 
at  death  (by  which  I  mean  the  finality  of  condition  into  which  the 
soul  may  pass  at  death).  (2)  The  doctrine  of  torment,  endless  if 
once  incurred.  The  Jews  to  whom  our  Lord  spoke  never  understood 
Gehenna  to  mean  what  modern  writers  mean  by  hell." 

II  Peter  2:  4,  "the  sinning  angels, — remitted  {paredoken)  for 
future  judgment,  incarcerating  them  in  chains  of  darkness." 
Tartarosas  is  verbal,  but  it  has  been  rendered  as  a  noun  in  the  English. 
As  this  is  in  Hades,  and  as  it  is  used  here  only,  and  here  of  angels, 
and  these  to  await  a  future  judgment,  it  is  inexcusable  to  render  it 
by  the  English  "hell."     It  has  no  relation  to  sempiternit>'. 

Phil.  2:  10,  "Underworld,"  here  only,  but  see  Sheol  from  beneath. 
(Isa.  14:9.) 

"Grave"  is  the  uniform  rendering  of  the  Hebrew,  keh-ver. 

"Topheth"  was  the  place  in  Gehenna  where  idolatrous  altars 
existed. 

"Abaddon,"  Hebrew,  and  "ApoUyon,"  Greek,  is  in  English  De- 
stroyer, or  Destruction. 

"The  Abyss"  is,  literally,  the  Bottomless,  the  depths  of  Hades. 

"Sheol"  and  "Hades"  are  the  same,  the  Underworld. 

"Pit"  is  a  general  term,  but  "the  Pit"  is  in  lower  Sheol. 

"Thanatos"  is  the  state  of  death;  it  is  personified  in  Revelation. 

"Nekros"  is  the  word  applied  to  dead  persons. 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  1 33 

"Gehenna"  occurs  in  Matt.  5:  22,  29,  30;  10:28;  18:9;  23:  15, 
33  ;  Mark  9 :  43,  45,  47  ;  Luke  12:5;  Jas.  3:6.  In  these  12  places  it  is 
rendered  in  English,  "Hell."  The  1901  revision  has  in  every  case  in 
the  margin,  "Greek,  Gehenna^  Gehenna  should  therefore  be  in  the 
text,  not  margin.  "Gehenna"  is  found  in  Old  Testament,  Josh.  15:8; 
18:  16;  II  Chron.  28:  3;  II  Kings  23:  10;  Jer.  7:  31,  32,33;  Isa.  66: 
24;  30:38;  Jer.  19:  1-13.  Hinnom  means  gracious,  or  abundant. 
"Topheth"  means  spitting,  a  thing  abhorred,  a  place  of  burning. 
Prophecy  gives  it  a  place  at  the  coming  of  Messiah  to  reign. 

"Torment"  inflicted  occurs  as  follows: 

Matt.  8 :  29,  The  demons  ask,  art  thou  come  hither  to  torment  us 
before  the  time  ?     ( Mark  5:7;  8:28.) 

Rev.  9:5,  The  demoniac  locusts  torment  men  five  months. 

Rev.  u  :  10,  The  two  witnesses,  prophets,  tormented  the  dwellers 
in  the  land. 

Rev.  14:  10,  II,  the  smoke  of  their  torment  goes  up  for  the  two 
coming  eons;  the  Divine  Fire  is  the  tormenting  element;  and  this  is 
said  of  those  who  have  put  upon  their  bodies  the  brand  of  the 
Antichristian  Beast,  and  of  these  only,  and  this  is  not  in  hell,  but 
before  the  angels. 

Rev.  20:  10,  At  the  end  of  the  Millennium,  the  devil  is  cast  into 
the  Lake  of  the  Divine  Fire,  where  the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet 
are,  and  with  them  is  tormented  day  and  night  to  the  end  of  the  eons. 

Rev.  18:  7,  10,  15,  this  is  the  "torment"  of  Babylon,  in  covenant 
with  Antichrist,  and  so  of  the  same  company  as  the  branded  ones 
of  Rev.  14:  10. 

1.  The  tormenting  element  is  the  unveiled  glory  and  holiness  of 
Christ  Jesus,  and  nothing  else!  Theologians,  profound  and  otherwise, 
have  taxed  imagination  and  genius,  and  have  exhausted  language  in 
describing  and  exaggerating  the  agonies  and  endlessness  of  torment. 
These  descriptions  may  give  a  passing  oratorical  thrill,  but  they  are 
so  grotesque  they  make  little  serious  impression.  They  remind  one  of 
the  penalty  for  adding  to  the  Apocalypse.  It  is  well  for  those  who 
utter  them  that  they  belong  to  this  dispensation,  or  their  names  would 
be  blotted  out  of  the  Book  of  the  Life. 

2.  The  victims  are  limited  to  the  Devil,  the  Beast,  the  False 
Prophet,  and  the  branded  dupes  of  the  seven  tribulation  years.  The 
scribes  of  Christendom  are  wise  above  what  is  written  as  they  thrill 
over  the  great  multitude  of  victims,  including  babes. 


134  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

3.  The  time  of  this  torment  ends  with  the  eons.  Contrast  the 
elaborate  descriptions  of  everlastingness. 

4.  The  Scriptures  simply  use  one  word  "torment;"  there  is  no 
clue  to  the  intensity  of  it.  As  it  is  the  Divine  Fire,  and  as  it  is  entirely 
in  the  control  of  Christ  Jesus,  it  will  certainly  effect  His  purpose. 
Contrast  unscriptural  exaggerations. 

5.  The  word  is  applied  to  birth  pangs  in  Rev.  12:  2,  to  the  waves 
that  tormented  the  disciples'  boat  (Matt.  14:  24)  ;  to  the  torment  of 
rowing  the  boat  (Mark  6:  48)  ;  to  Lot's  "torment"  when  he  viewed 
the  wickedness  of  Sodom  (II  Peter  2:8). 

These  Jews,  taught  the  Old  Testament  from  childhood,  knew 
that  entrance  into  that  kingdom  was  a  covenant  reward  for  the 
righteous,  and  they  knew  that  the  wrath  was  threatened  by  the  law 
for  apostasy.  Their  prophets  spoke  of  this  day  of  wrath  as  preceding 
the  kingdom.  They  knew  from  Micah  that  Bethlehem  was  Messiah's 
birthplace;  from  Daniel  that  the  time  was  near;  from  Malachi,  that 
Elijah  would  be  sent  before  the  great  and  terrible  day  of  the  Lord 
arrives,  and  they  asked  John  if  he  were  Elijah. 

6.  Jehovah  was  party  of  the  first  part  and  the  chosen  people  was 
party  of  the  second  part  in  a  covenant.  According  to  prophecy  the 
"many"  were  to  apostatize  and  enter  into  a  seven-year  covenant  with 
Anti-Messiah.  This  impious  act  would  be  the  cause  of  Jehovah's 
wrath,  and  they  were  to  be  dealt  with.  When  the  future  was  unveiled 
to  John  he  saw  the  great  day  of  this  wrath,  and  wrote  an  authentic 
description  of  it.  He  saw  the  seven  angels  pour  out  the  seven  golden 
vials  by  which  the  wrath  of  God  is  completed  (Rev.  15:  i).  It  is  to 
last  just  three  years  and  a  half.  During  this  time  the  Mercy-Seat  is 
inaccessible,  but  if  anyone  is  martyred  for  his  faith,  or  endures 
through  it,  he  enters  the  Messianic  kingdom.  This  is  called  the 
Kingdom  of  Heaven  from  Dan.  2 :  44. 

Scripture  does  not  depict  any  further  display  of  wrath  on  God's 
part.  In  this  comparatively  brief  day  of  wrath  there  is  completed 
what  is  called  Jehovah's  "strange"  work.  In  the  "Little  Apocalypse," 
Jehovah  calls  the  antichristian  covenant  of  the  tribulation  a  refuge 
of  lies,  an  agreement  with  Death,  and  a  covenant  with  Sheol,  and 
says  He  will  abolish  it.  (Isa.  28:  17-19.)  In  the  following  verses 
(20-22)  He  threatens  this  "strange"  work.  This  can  hardly  be  other 
than  "the  day  of  wrath !"  We  sometimes  hear  believers  using  the  very 
uncomplimentary,  and  in  reality  carnal  remark,  "How  strange  that 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  135 

God  should  love  me!"  Is  it  such  a  rare  thing  for  God  to  manifest 
His  very  nature?  Why  not  believe  rather  and  confess  that  God  is 
love,  and  that  this  day  of  wrath  is  strange,  though  expedient.  Why 
limit  Divine  Love?  And  why  strain  imagination  to  depict  a  God  of 
endless  and  futile  wrath?  Some  have  a  zeal  for  justice  that  fails  to 
see  the  grace  of  God's  great  act,  justice  once  for  all  vindicated,  and 
then  evangelized  as  a  gift.  They  go  about  proclaiming  hell-fire  as 
the  only  remedy  for  injustice.  Verily,  the  "snare  of  the  devil"  is 
made  of  the  meshes  of  the  law.  (II  Tim.  2:  26;  II  Cor.  4:  3,  4,  "by 
which,"  riot  "in  whom,"  and  "done  away"  of  the  third  chapter,  not 
"lost." 

Rom.  2:5,  Wrath  in  (a)  day  of  wrath  (no  article). 

Rom.  5 :  9,  Saved  us  from  the  wrath;  the  article  indicates  the 
definite  tribulation  period. 

I  Thess.  1:10,  The  Thessalonian  hope  was  the  Millennial  glory, 
and  they  were  promised  deliverance  "from  the  coming  wrath"  which 
precedes  the  reign  of  Christ.    The  two  articles  confirm  this. 

Rev.  6:  i6,  17,  "The  great  day  of  the  wrath  of  Them  is  come." 
This  is  under  the  sixth  seal ;  how  can  it  be  used  of  any  final  great 
assize  and  the  execution  of  its  sentence? 

Rev.  II :  18,  At  the  seventh  trumpet  which  signals  for  the  seven 
vials  of  wrath,  we  see:  "The  Kingdom  is  the  Lord's  and  He  shall 
reign  for  the  eons  of  the  eons,"  the  two  coming  eons.  This  cannot 
refer  to  any  final  judgment.  "The  nations  were  wroth;"  the  Devil  is 
there  in  great  fury;  "Thy  wrath  is  come;"  "the  wrath  of  the  Lord 
God  Almighty."    This  is  the  definite  forty-two  months  of  wrath. 

Rev.  14:9-11,  Here  it  is  those  who  bear  Antichrist's  brand,  who 
are  "drinking  of  the  wine  of  God's  fury,  which  has  been  blended 
undiluted  in  the  cup  of  His  wrath." 

Rev.  16:  19,  Babylon  drinks  this  cup,  at  the  same  time. 

Rev.  19:  15,  The  King  of  Kings  and  Lord  of  Lords  is  the  One 
who  is  "treading  out  this  winepress  of  the  fury  of  the  wrath  of  God." 
Twelve  hundred  and  sixty  days  is  the  time  limit  of  the  winepress.  It  is 
the  "vintage  of  the  earth"  at  the  end  of  this  present  evil  eon. 

It  is  irreverent  or  ignorant  perversion  to  use  any  of  these  passages 
to  confirm  the  imputation  of  sempiternal  wrath  to  God  and  the  Lamb. 
True,  IF  they  can  establish  endless  unrighteousness,  then  they  can 
deduce  God's  endless  wrath  against  it.  BUT !  Daniel  says  this  makes 
an  end  of  sin,  this  brings  in  eonian  righteousness  to  Israel. 


136  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

"The  anointed  cherub  that  covereth,"  the  Adversary,  Abaddon, 
Apollyon,  the  Devil,  Satan,  the  Dragon,  the  Serpent,  the  Sea-monster, 
the  Prince  of  the  power  of  the  air,  the  God  of  this  cosmos,  the 
Tempter,  the  Liar,  the  Murderer,  incarnate  in  Antichrist,  chained  a 
thousand  years,  loosed  to  gather  the  Millennial  ungodly  ones,  and 
then  cast  into  the  Lake  of  the  Fire  for  the  last  eon.    Shall  he  be  saved? 

"You  perfect  seal!  full  of  science  and  spotless  in  beauty 
You  once  were  in  Eden,  the  Garden  of  God ! 
Every  stone  that  was  precious  was  fastened  upon  you, 
Ruby,  topaz,  and  diamond ;  the  beryl  and  onyx ; 
Sapphire,  emerald,  and  opal ;  in  chasings  of  gold, 
They  were  made,  and  set  on  you  the  day  you  were  created. 
And  you  were  the  Cherub,  the  holy  protector. 
And  sat  on  the  hill  that  was  sacred  to  God ; 
You  walked  in  the  midst  of  the  bright  flashing  jewels, 
You  were  right  in  your  path  from  your  creation! 
Until  in  yourself  the  corruption  was  formed ; 
Till  your  trades  filled  j'our  breast  with  extortion  and  wrong! 
So  I  flung  you  out  from  the  Mountain  of  Godhood, 
And  sent  your  guardian  spirit  from  among  the  bright  gems! 
From  your  beauty  your  heart  rose ;  your  science  corrupted ; 
Notwithstanding  your  splendor  I  flung  you  to  earth ; 
And  before  kings  cast  you,  to  show  what  you  are! 

"Your  great  passion  for  trade  deeply  wounded  your  virtue. 
So  I  bring  fire  from  you,  consuming  yourself ! 
And  on  earth  lay  your  ashes  in  sight  of  onlookers; 
All  nations  who  knew  you  will  shudder  above  you ! 
You  have  been  a  terror,  but  shall  cease  for  the  eon!" 

— Ezek.  28:  12-19.     (See  Isa,  14:  12-20.) 

The  genius  of  multitudes  of  the  most  intelligent  minds  in  Pagan- 
ism and  Christendom  has  enlarged  upon  tortures,  and  painted  the 
continual  increase  of  pangs  of  body,  of  soul,  of  spirit,  of  conscience, 
shame,  memory,  passions.  Are  not  most  of  the  following  honored 
names  on  earth?  Yet  they  are  guilty.  Plato,  Aristotle,  Plutarch, 
Augustine,  Dante,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Haley,  Holland,  Tayler  Lewis, 
Meyer,  Lange,  Mueller,  Cook,  Byron,  Tennyson,  Cowles,  Shakes- 
peare, Martineau,  Dorner,  Emmons,  Hudson,  McCosh,  Murphy, 
Trench,  Porter,  Paley,  Bacon,  Butler,  Alger,  Hamilton,  Richter, 
Hodge,  Barnes,  Pusey,  Anderson,  Gray,  Torrey,  etc.,  etc.  How 
strange  this  unanimity  of  pagan  and  Christian!  It  should  give  us 
Pause.     Selah!  stop  and  think. 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  137 

"A  final  permanence  is  attained  but  once"  (Cook,  quoted  by 
Haley),  O  profound  philosophers! 

Haley  sums  up  these  sempiternal  penalty  points : 

1.  The  wicked  have  themselves  alone  to  blame. 

2.  They  have  unending  self-loathing  and  shame. 

3.  They  have  remorse  of  conscience. 

4.  They  are  withdrawn  from  all  good  influences. 

5.  They   are   conscious   of    the   self-perpetuating   tendency   of 

sinful  character. 

6.  They  are  hopeless. 

7.  All  their  unholy  passions  ceaselessly  rage. 

8.  They  must  endure  the  horrible  society  of  each  other. 

9.  They  suffer  a  sense  of  Jehovah's  displeasure. 

[10.  Shall  we  not  add,  they  have  lost  that  super-godlike  thing, 
free-will,  lost  by  its  own  act.] 

These  are  some  of  the  ingredients  of  woe,  "ever  increasing."  It  is 
possible  that  the  senselessness  of  such  a  statement  never  strikes  them. 
Their  antecedent  literalists  would  poke  up  literal  fire  with  glee,  and 
scarify  with  red-hot  irons,  but  these  see  a  never-dying  soul  that  cannot 
be  ground  to  powder. 

Here  is  another  gustatory  morsel  of  speculative  imagination  from 
Dr.  Haley:  "This  is  an  entirely  reasonable  view  of  the  case;"  this 
future  endless  suffering  is  the  "legitimate  fruit  of  sin !"  "Were  there 
no  God,  and  provided  that  the  laws  of  matter  and  mind  remained  the 
same  as  now,  the  sinner  would,  we  have  no  doubt,  suffer  precisely  as 
under  the  present  arrangement,  with  the  single  exception  that  in  that 
case  the  displeasure  of  God  would  of  course  be  wanting."  Here's 
richness!  Exactly  so,  the  thing  is  philosophically  established  apart 
from  God;  with  no  Christ,  no  Gospel,  no  resurrection,  for,  that  the 
soul  apart  from  the  body  is  immortal,  is  an  integral  part  of  the 
proposition. 

What  is  the  condition  between  death  and  resurrection?  The  body 
is  but  the  tent,  the  clothes  that  cover  the  spirit  lest  it  be  naked 
(H  Cor.  5),  but  the  germ  of  life  is  always  gathering  to  itself  lifeless 
matter  and  transforming  it  for  its  own  particular  being;  "every  seed 
its  own  body"  (I  Corinthians  15).  In  death  this  earthly  body  is  dis- 
solved, as  the  body  of  a  seed  dissolves,  while  the  living  principle 
asserts  its  nature  and  draws  to  itself  another  body.  This  is  analogous 
to  the  waste  and  growth  of  the  body  during  this  lifetime.  Now  is 
this  living  principle  an  Adam  principle,  "a  living  soul,"  or  a  living 


138  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Christ  principle,  "a  quickening  spirit?"  Adam  and  his  race  have  not 
that  quickening  resurrection  spirit.  Death  apart  from  Christ  is  the 
end  of  Adam.  The  old  nature  of  the  believer  has  no  resurrection. 
A  child  of  resurrection  is  a  child  of  God.  (Luke  20:  36.)  Con- 
sciousness of  spirit  in  death  is  not  the  consciousness  of  the  natural 
spirit,  but  the  consciousness  of  that  spirit  under  the  Headship  of  the 
First-born  from  the  dead;  He  is  the  "Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  the 
living."  We  may  infer  that  the  believers  of  this  Heavenly  dispensa- 
tion, when  their  spirits  are  "unclothed"  at  death,  will  not  be  left 
naked.  Surely  the  resurrection  body  of  Christ  can  find  a  blessed  place 
for  those  of  this  Heavenly  dispensation,  and  that  in  consciousness. 
As  to  the  unbelievers  of  this  dispensation,  there  seems  to  be  no  other 
place  to  hide  but  in  Hades.  That  at  death  "the  spirit  returns"  to 
God,  does  not  involve  that  it  goes  to  Heaven.  You  might  return 
money  to  me,  but  I  can  put  it  in  the  bank.  In  all  these  Bible  refer- 
ences the  spirit  is  an  entity,  a  continuous  entity,  after  the  analogy  of 
the  caterpillar  and  the  butterfly,  its  existence  continuous  only  in 
Christ,  and  because  of  His  identification  with  humanity.  His  redeem- 
ing death,  and  the  resurrection  power  of  life.  The  Son  of  God 
"quickens  whomever  He  pleases."     (John  5  :  21.) 

There  is  an  intermediate  state  of  some  kind  for  some  between 
death  and  resurrection.  Old  Testament  saints  died  from  Adam  to 
Malachi  and  they  were  raised  when  thfeir  Lord  was.  (Matt.  27 :  52.) 
Abel  had  been  dead  four  thousand  years  and  the  malefactor  three  days, 
in  Thanatos  and  Hades.  So  Abraham,  David,  Daniel,  Moses,  were 
released  from  the  captivity  of  death.  Enoch  is  not  to  see  death. 
Elijah's  death  is  postponed  to  the  end  of  the  eon;  John  also  will  tarry 
till  the  same  time,  when  they  as  the  two  witnesses  of  Revelation  11 
will  be  killed.  Four  in  Old  Testament  times  and  four  in  New 
Testament  times  before  the  cross.  Dorcas  and  Eutychus  in  the 
Pentecostal  generation.  The  members  of  the  Heavenly  Body  are 
raised  at  the  end  of  this  dispensation  (now  imminent).  The  pre- 
millennial  earthly  saints  dead  and  living  are  "caught  up"  to  escape 
the  Tribulation.  Elijah  and  John,  after  three  and  a  half  days  of 
death,  their  bodies  lying  in  the  streets,  are  then  called  up  to  their 
own  company.  The  Tribulation  martyrs  are  raised  at  the  coming 
of  the  Messiah.  THIS  completes  the  first  resurrection!  After  this 
no  righteous  person  dies.  Again  the  question  recurs,  Why  do  they 
die  now?    The  clew  to  the  answer  is  in  this,  "No  man  dieth  unto 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  1 39 

himself."  Individuals  must  not  interfere  with  the  unity  of  the  Race 
nor  with  the  Lord's  dealing  with  others.  If  no  righteous  person 
died  now,  it  would  complicate  the  testimony  which  is  proper  to  the 
present  dispensation,  while  this  complication  will  be  removed  when 
Messiah  is  present  in  person,  and  dealing  with  His  covenant  people. 

In  the  first  resurrection  is  that  company  of  the  righteous  who  are 
called  the  eonian  "life  resurrection."  The  unjust,  after  one  thousand 
years'  eonian  discipline,  stand  with  all  others  before  the  Great  White 
Throne,  and  upon  their  first  knowledge  of  the  real  character  of  the 
Sent  One,  they  see  and  believe  like  Saul  of  Tarsus,  and  partake  of 
what  is  called  in  John  5  the  "judgment  resurrection;"  that  is,  the 
resurrection  of  those  who  have  suffered  the  Millennial  judgment. 

At  the  end  of  the  thousand  years  of  Israel's  ministry  in  union  with 
Messiah  their  King,  all  rebellious  ones  will  be  removed  and  all  living 
humanit>'  will  "know  the  Lord."  The  dead  will  then  stand  before 
the  Great  White  Throne,  on  which  the  Son  of  God  sits  and  unveils 
His  Glory,  which  is  more  of  a  consuming  fire  than  it  was  at  Mount 
Sinai.  The  dead  see  and  know  and  believe  and  enter  into  resurrection 
life,  which  event  declares  them  to  be  sons  of  God  (Luke  20:  30). 

(See  Diagram  III,  showing  the  sequence  of  the  above  events.) 

In  addition  to  the  above,  — Korah,  Dathan  and  Abiram  and  their 
company  go  down  to  Hades  alive.  At  the  end  of  this  present  eon, 
the  Beast  and  the  False  Prophet  are  cast  alive  into  the  consuming 
fire  of  Messiah's  glory.  The  belief  in  common  fire  is  the  belief  that 
Nadab  and  Abihu  had.  The  Divine  Fire  is  the  Divine  glor}%  veiled 
or  unveiled,  according  to  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  required. 
The  fire  of  Hell,  as  usually  considered,  is  a  strange  fire,  w^hich  God 
does  not  use  for  acceptance  at  the  altars  of  sacrifice  or  incense. 
Ex.  24:  16,  At  Sinai  the  cloud  veiled  the  glory  in  mercy  to  the  carnal 
people,  but  Moses  went  up  into  that  glory  and  came  out  shining; 
he  was  not  "consumed."  It  is  this  Divine  glory-fire  at  the  Great 
White  Throne.  The  heavens  were  not  pure  in  His  sight ;  the  upper 
heavens  are  purged  when  Satan  is  cast  out  in  the  middle  of  the  Tribu- 
lation, the  first  heaven  will  flee  away  before  the  face  of  the  Enthroned 
One,  the  earth  also;  when  a  new  heavens  and  earth  of  a  new  cosmos, 
holy  and  approved  in  all  respects,  takes  its  place;  permanent  in  the 
Headship  of  the  Son  of  God,  and  as  the  dwelling-place  of  God. 
Righteousness  reigned  in  the  fourth  eon ;  now  it  dwells.  The  Under- 
world was  unclean  during  the  fourth  eon;  now  all  are  holy  in  the 


140  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

worship  of  the  Savior  God.  The  righteousness  which  is  of  the  law 
might  rest  with  the  evidence  of  the  fourth  eon ;  that  penalty  was  paid. 
But  the  righteousness  of  God  has  a  higher  standard,  based  on  the 
results  of  the  death,  burial  and  resurrection  of  the  responsible  Head 
of  the  Universe.  Jehovah  does  not  shirk  His  responsibility.  He  has 
said,  "I  am  thy  God."  He  has  sworn  to  it.  He  never  has  denied  it. 
He  always  has  affirmed  it.     He  will  never  go  back  on  it. 

"He  descended  into  hell"  is  the  language  of  the  creed,  but  the 
Scriptures  appealed  to  should  not  be  neglected.  I  Peter  3 :  i8,  20, 
"preached  to  the  spirits  in  prison,  who — ;"  I  Peter  4:  6,  "the  gospel 
was  preached  to  dead — ;"  Eph.  4:9,  "descended  first  into  the  lo\ver 
parts  of  the  earth — that  He-might-fiU  the  universe."  Joshua  and 
Israel  were  to  possess  the  land  wherever  the  soles  of  their  feet  should 
tread.  Christ  ascended  far  above  all  the  heavens ;  He  takes  possession 
of  the  "prison"  in  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth.  He  possesses  the 
Universe  as  Head.  "Free-will"  is  not  the  sovereign  God  of  the 
Underworld,  intrenched  against  El  Shaddai. 

Dean  Plumptre,  "We  repeat  these  words  of  the  creed,  but  they 
do  not  move  us.  They  bring  no  strength  or  comfort  to  us."  Calvin 
actually  held  that  the  torments  of  the  lost  were  suffered  by  Christ 
in  addition  to  the  cross  to  make  the  work  complete. 

Plumptre,  This  "descent"  of  Christ  has  impressed  many  minds. 
To  many  it  spoke  of  victory  over  death.  He  entered  the  Underworld 
— "as  a  mighty  King,  the  herald  of  His  own  conquests;  the  bands  of 
the  prisoners  were  broken ;  the  gates  of  the  prison  house  were  thrown 
open.  There  had  He  gathered  round  Him  the  souls  of  His  righteous 
ones — ;  there  He  delivered  from  the  passionate  j^earning  of  expec- 
tancy— .  Such  ideas  enlarged  were  the  creed  of  Christendom  for 
some  fifteen  centuries;  it  mingled  itself  with  strange  and  fantastic 
imaginings,  was  embodied  in  legends,  false  gospels,  poems,  dramas, 
hymns.  It  suggested  a  w^ider  hope  than  their  dogmatic  systems  seemed 
to  render  possible." 

Keble,  in  "Christian  Year,"  had  referred  to  Jesus  sleeping,  a  silent 
corpse;  he  asks  (Easter  Eve), — 

"Sleep'st  Thou  indeed,  or  is  Thy  spirit  fied. 
At  large  among  the  dead? 
Whether  in  Eden-bowers,  Thy  welcome  voice 
Wake  Abraham  to  rejoice; 
Or  in  some  drearier  scene  Thine  eye  controls 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  I4I 

"The  thronging  band  of  souls; 
That  as  Thy  death  won  earth,  Thine  agony 
Might  set  the  shadowy  world  from  sin  and  sorrow  free." 

"Hell"  was  not  used  to  scare  people  in  the  Old  Testament.  The 
law  and  its  death  penalty  made  the  "fear  of  death"  the  "power  of 
the  Devil"  (Heb.  2:  14),  The  wicked  feared  Death  and  Hades,  but 
the  righteous  had  hope  in  his  death ;  the  hope  of  resurrection  in  Christ 
to  eonian  life.  The  wicked  of  the  Old  Testament  were  ignorant 
unbelievers  in  this;  their  conscience  and  all  their  natural  religious 
ideas  condemned  them.  In  Adam  all  die;  in  Adam  there  is  no 
resurrection,  though  Natural  Religion  hoped  and  argued  and  taught 
that  there  was.  In  Christ,  and  in  Him  alone  shall  all  be  made  alive; 
the  righteous  in  a  first  resurrection  to  enjoy  eonian  life,  and  the  un- 
righteous after  the  eonian  kolasis,  shall  be  dealt  with  by  the  full  power 
and  glory  of  the  Son  of  God,  who  gives  life  to  whom  He  will. 
Without  excommunicating  those  who  dififer  with  Him  in  this  par- 
ticular, the  present  writer  teaches  that  the  Son  of  God  deals  with 
the  naked  spirits  of  the  dead  in  the  last  eon  as  he  dealt  with  Saul  of 
Tarsus,  and  that  every  last  one  before  the  Great  White  Throne 
will  there  see  a  "face"  that  tells  them  something  they  never  knew 
before,  and  that  "something"  will  be  what  the  little  children  saw, — 
that  is  "love."  One  look  was  enough  for  the  representative  chief  of 
sinners,  and  one  look  will  convince  every  looker,  and  all  w^ill  look 
sooner  or  later.  This  is  confirmed  by  Luke  20 136,  where  it  is 
intimated  that  a  child  of  resurrection  is  a  child  of  God ;  and  by 
Rom.  1 :  4,  which  says  that  it  was  resurrection  that  declares  Christ 
Jesus  to  be  the  Son  of  God.  Without  arguing  the  point  here,  I  repeat 
that  what  may  not  be  true  in  Adam  concerning  consciousness  of  spirit 
apart  from  body,  may  be  true  in  Christ  by  His  resurrection  power  and 
by  "the  good  pleasure  of  His  will." 

In  the  Englewood  district  of  Chicago  some  children  were  playing 
Sunday-school,  when  heaven  and  hell  were  mentioned.  One  little 
girl  said,  "O,  I  know  about  hell ;  the  Sisters  at  our  school  opened  a 
door  and  showed  the  hell  fire  and  told  us  that  was  where  we  would 
go  if  we  didn't  behave."  At  another  place,  a  six-j^ear-old,  at  Sunday- 
school  for  the  first  time,  was  heard  to  whisper  to  the  older  girl  who 
brought  her,  "If  I  get  sick,  and  don't  go  to  Sunday-school,  will  I  go 
to  hell?"    With  such  schooling,  how  can  they  learn  that  God  is  love? 

Alice   Ballantine   Kirjassofif  visited    Formosa   and    describes   the 


142  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

head-hunters  there.  Kim  Soan  was  taken  from  them  when  a  boy, 
with  the  idea  of  sending  him  back  to  improve  these  savages.  He  re- 
fused to  go  back,  but  circumstances  were  too  much  for  him  and  he 
afterward  spent  eight  years  with  them, — when  he  returned  to  civiliza- 
tion. A  former  acquaintance  asked  him  how  many  heads  he  had 
cut  off.  He  swore  by  the  Heavens  above  and  the  earth  below  that 
he  had  never  taken  human  life.  "But  you  have  the  tribal  tattoo. 
You  must  at  least  have  taken  one  head."  But  he  explained  how  he 
had  escaped  the  necessity.  He  was  asked,  "But  why  do  your  people 
hunt  heads?  Is  it  true  that  a  man  must  procure  a  head  before  he 
can  claim  a  bride?"  "No,  it's  this  way;  all  my  people  believe  that 
when  we  die  we  all  must  walk  up  the  rainbow  to  the  Land-of-After- 
Death.  At  the  end  of  the  rainbow  the  gateman  stands,  and  when  we 
come  he  will  say  to  us,  'Show  me  your  hands.'  And  he  will  look  at 
our  hand  and  if  he  finds  it  clean  from  blood,  he  will  say,  'Go  to  the 
right,'  and  he  will  kick  us  into  the  dark  nothingness  below;  but  if  he 
looks  at  our  hand  and  finds  it  stained,  he  will  say,  'You  may  enter,' 
and  he  will  allow  us  to  pass  within."  Each  village  has  its  open-air 
skull  museum;  skulls  ornament  houses.  There  are  head-hunters  also 
in  the  Philippines.  "By  their  fruits  ye  shall  know  them."  Judicial 
punishment  is  the  fruit  of  law.  The  reconciliation  of  the  Universe  is 
the  fruit  of  the  gospel.  Advocates  of  "Eternal  Hope,"  "The  wider 
hope,"  and  mitigations,  even  "The  bright  side  of  hell,"  have  weakly 
argued  for  mercy,  admitting  that  the  doctrine  of  retribution  requires 
punishment  other  than  that  demanded  by  Scripture.  The  advocates 
of  endless  punishment  have  exhibited  some  dead  sea  fruit  in  their 
temper  and  language.  The  charge  against  advocates  of  reconciliation 
is  sentimentality,  looseness  of  doctrine,  worldliness,  etc.  Look  into  this ! 
Examine  the  temper  and  language  of  one  who  advocates  the  preaching 
of  God's  character  as  truth,  and  see  if  its  fruit  is  bitter.  At  any  rate, 
to  hold  the  truth  in  the  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  pToduce 
"love,  joy,  peace,  long-suffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faith,  meekness, 
temperance."  "By  these  fruits  you  shall  know  them,"  that  is  the  pos- 
sessor's.   As  to  professors  only,  they  are  barren. 

Is  it  the  fear  of  hell  that  peoples  Heaven,  that  is  the  wisdom  of 
God  and  the  power  of  God  unto  Salvation?  Heaven  is  peopled  only 
by  those  who  were  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  pre-adamite  wreck  of 
the  first  cosmos.  The  new  earth  is  peopled  by  those  blessed  under  the 
Abrahamic  Covenant. 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  I43 

At  the  Passover  the  Samaritans,  after  prayer,  which  is  ended  with 
a  loud  Amen!,  rise  and  remain  perfectly  erect,  while  in  silence  they 
repeat  another  prayer,  called  "Akid  el  Niyeh,  a  meditation  which  de- 
notes the  consecration  of  their  souls  to  prayer.  It  consists  of  repeating 
the  five  articles  of  their  creed — belief  in  God,  in  Moses,  the  Penta- 
teuch, Mt.  Gerizim,  and  the  Day  of  Judgment." 

Professor  Shedd  argues  that  Sheol  must  be  Hell  because  the 
wicked  are  threatened  with  it,  not  the  righteous.  He  refers  to  Job 
2 1  :  1 3  ;  Ps.  9  :  1 7  ;  Prov.  5  :  5  ;  9 :  1 8  ;  23  : 1 4 ;  Deut.  32:22;  Ps.  139:8; 
Prov.  15  :  24;  Job  26:  6;  Prov.  15:  11 ;  27:  20.  "If  the  good  also  went 
to  Sheol,  its  power  to  terrify  is  gone.  There  is  no  distinction  such  as 
Paradise  and  Gehenna;  the  wicked  are  threatened  with  the  whole  of 
Sheol."  We  might  argue  as  above  from  "the  soul  that  sinneth  it  shall 
die"  that  sinners  only  die;  or,  if  Johnnie  is  punished  by  being  sent  to 
bed,  that  good  boys  do  not  go  to  bed.  But  Jacob  said,  I  will  go  down 
to  Sheol,  Gen.  37:35;  42:38;  44:29-31.  Job  says,  O  that  Thou 
wouldst  hide  me  in  Sheol.  Christ  descended  into  Sheol  (Ps.  16:  10; 
Acts  2:27).  Heman  saj^s,  My  life  draweth  nigh  to  Sheol  (Ps. 
88:3);  Hezekiah,  I  shall  go  to  the  gates  of  Sheol;  Isa.  38:10; 
Jonah  cried  out  of  Sheol.     (Jonah  2:  2.) 

Note  the  attitude  shown  in  the  following,  "If  Sheol  is  not  the 
place  where  the  wrath  of  God  falls  upon  the  transgressor,  there  is  no 
place  mentioned  in  the  Old  Testament  where  it  does."  And  the  the- 
ologian would  like  to  know  the  reason  why. 

To  Peter  were  committed  the  keys  of  the  Messianic  kingdom; 
Jesus  says,  I  have  the  keys  of  Death  and  Hades.  This  is  He  that 
has  the  Key  of  David,  He  that  openeth  and  none  shall  shut,  and  that 
shutteth  and  none  openeth.    The  deceived  and  deceiver  are  His. 

Grace  reigns  now,  superabundant  above  all  sin,  and  all  its  con- 
sequences. "Gather  up  the  fragments,  even,  that  nothing  be  lost." 
"Looking  up  to  heaven.  He  blessed,  and  brake,  and  gave,"  and 
shall  any  "fragment"  fail  a  blessed  purpose?  And  will  there  be 
an  everlasting  swill  barrel  where  Beelzebub,  god  of  filth,  holds  sway  ? 
No  such  thing  could  endure  the  unveiled  glory  from  which  no  dirty 
corner  can  be  hid  in  all  the  New  creation.  If  there  is  a  Hell,  it  will 
have  to  be  a  new  hell,  for  there  is  One  Universe  and  nothing  exists 
apart  from  it  but  absolute  Godhood. 

Robert  Anderson  criticizes  Cox's  Salvator  Mundi  as  follows: 
"Cox  then  examines  the  word  'damnation'  as  an  English  word, 
10 


144  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

tracing  it  back  to  'deem,'  as  when  a  man  is  deemed  guilty,  and  to 
'doom,'  as  when  he  is  doomed  to  punishment;  thus  a  man  might  be 
damned  to  prison,  deemed  worthy  of  it,  and  doomed  to  it.  So  the 
Engh'sh  'heir  is  from  the  old  word  which  means  to  cover,  and  in  early 
English  literature  it  was  used  of  any  obscure  dungeon  or  covered  spot, 
even  a  dark  hole  into  which  a  tailor  threw  his  waste.  Both  these  words 
were  innocent  then,  before  the  Bible  had  been  translated  into  English, 
three  centuries  ago,  but  theologians  have  put  the  meanings  in  them 
which  make  'damned  to  hell'  an  'endless  torment'."  This  may  be  ex- 
cused to  some  extent  in  one  who  must  get  his  idea  from  King  James' 
Version,  but  inexcusable  in  anyone  who  has  a  knowledge  of  the  Greek 
New  Testament  when  he  uses  them  as  equivalent  to  any  word  there 
— Cox  then  gives  the  Greek, 

"Krinein" —  in  common  use  —  means  "to  part,  to  separate,  to 
discriminate  between  good  and  bad,"  in  short,  "to  judge."  From  this 
verb  two  nouns  are  formed:  KRISIS,  the  act  of  judging;  KRIMA, 
the  sentence.  From  the  verb  another  verb  has  been  formed,  KATA- 
KRINEIN,  "to  give  judgment  against."  This  has  two  nouns: 
KATA-KRISIS,  act  of  condemning;  KATA-KRIMA,  sentence  of 
condemnation  (or  state  of  condemnation).  These  meanings  are  not 
disputed.  Now,  KRINEIN  and  derivatives  occur  170  times  in  the 
New  Testament,  and  is  properly  rendered  "judge"  150  times.  Why, 
then,  is  it  rendered  condemn  7  times,  accuse,  twice,  and  "damn"  only 
8  times?  So  Kata-Krinein,  used  24  times  in  New  Testament,  twice 
only  rendered  "damn,"  but  22  times  properly  "condemn."  The  con- 
clusion is  that  no  word  for  damnation  occurs  in  the  New  Testament. 
Now,  note  the  10  passages  where  the  meaning  "damn"  is  forced  on 
condemn  and  see  the  bias  of  the  translation. 

Mark  12:  40,  "greater  damnation,"  not  in  hell  forever,  but  "a 
severer  judgment"  for  crime,  if  hypocrisy  is  added. 

Matt.  23:33,  How  shall  ye  (Scribes,  Vs.  29)  escape  the  damna- 
tion of  hellf  properly,  "the  judgment  of  Gehenna." 

Mark  3 :  29,  Eternal  damnation,  so  King  James'  Version.  The 
true  reading  is  "eonian  sin." 

John  5:  29,  Resurrection  of  judgment  (not  damnation),  the  word 
is  krisis. 

Rom.  3 :  8,  Their  damnation  is  just.  Am.  R.  V.  has  condemnation. 

Rom.  13:  1,2,  This  passage  simply  says  that  those  who  resist  au- 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  I45 

thorities  will  expose  themselves  to  "judgment."  Revolutionists  are 
not  damned  to  hell. 

I  Tim.  5:12,  Young  widows  marry  again,  having  "damnation"  or 
"judgment;"  which?  "The  priestly  classes  which  have  dominated  and 
degraded  the  church,  have  planted  themselves  on  this  blunder  of  trans- 
lation and  have  made  all  broken  vows  and  political  rebellion  crimes 
certain  to  meet  the  penalty  of  endless  torture." 

I  Cor.  1 1 :  29,  "eateth  and  drinketh  unworthily,  eateth  and  drink- 
eth  damnation  to  himself ;  this  blunder  has  added  to  the  misconcep- 
tion of  this  Scripture,  bad  enough  without  that. 

II  Thess.  2:  12,  "judged,"  not  damned.    See  R.  V. 
Kata-krinein  occurs  in  two  passages:  Mark   16:  16,  condemned, 

not  damned;  Rom.  14:  23,  He  that  doubteth  is  "damned"  if  he  eat, 
should  be  "condemned"  (by  his  own  conscience,  not  doomed  to  hell). 
II  Peter  2:  1-3,  damnable  heresies;  here  another  Greek  word  is  used, 
meaning  destructive.  There  is  no  excuse  for  the  word  "damn"  in  our 
English  translation  of  the  Bible  as  indicating  "damned  to  Hell." 

"Judgment"  is  in  constant  exercise,  but  what  the  penalty,  or 
where,  this  word  does  not  in  itself  declare. 

Anderson  says  much  of  this  is  true,  and  would  be  helpful  if 
written  in  any  other  connection. 

Cox  also  objects  to  hell  as  a  rendering  of  Gehenna — and  to  both 
as  meaning  the  place  of  final  and  everlasting  torment  of  the  wicked. 
(But  how  can  everlasting  be  final?)  Anderson  says  in  accord,  "This 
meaning  is  one  which  hell  scarcely  possesses  at  all  in  classical  English." 

Hades  may  be  passed  by  here,  as  the  American  Revised  Version 
transfers  the  word  bodily;  it  does  not  translate.  Cox  properly  says 
that  Gehenna  is  locally  the  valley  of  the  son  of  Hinnom,  and  describes 
its  uses  in  disposing  of  carcasses,  etc.  Anderson  seems  more  concerned 
about  crushing  his  opponent  than  getting  at  the  Scriptural  truth  of 
Gehenna.  He  says,  "What  moral  would  he  [Cox]  draw  from  it? 
That  the  offal  and  the  carcasses  were  thrown  there  to  purify  and  fit 
them  for  some  high  and  noble  use?  It  is  amazing  how  anyone  can  be 
so  blind  as  not  to  see  in  this  figure  the  most  graphic  and  terrible  of 
utter  and  hopeless  destruction."  Which  is  not  turning  to  Scripture 
for  light.  The  truth  of  Gehenna  is  fulfilled  in  the  thousand  years 
when  the  righteous  shall  enjoy  eonian  life,  and  when  the  hosts  of  Anti- 
christ overthrown  shall  in  that  valley  furnish  the  worm  and  the 
vulture.     This  is  Scripture,  not  argument. 


146  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

Isa.  65:  24: 

"And  all  men  shall  bow  before  Me,  says  Jehovah, 
And  shall  go  out  and  look  on  the  bodies  of  men 
Who  revolted  from  Me, 
How  their  worms  die  not  for  the  eon. 
And  the  fire  is  not  quenched 
And  they  are  abhorred  of  mankind." 

This  is  not  hell  as  preachers  picture  it.  Rev.  19:  17,  18,  the  same 
scene  is  not  in  any  hell,  but  where  men  in  the  flesh  can  see  them. 

One  expression  does  not  describe  every  aspect  of  every  class,  dead 
or  alive,  who  are  judged  and  doomed  at  the  beginning  of  that  Millen- 
nial judgment  day.  These  sentences,  either  Millennial  or  final,  are 
not  the  natural  results  of  ignorance.  Rather,  they  are  intended  to 
cause  despair  of  self-deliverance  and  a  readiness  to  see  and  seize  the 
opportunity  of  a  face-to-face  experience  at  the  Great  White  Throne 
Session.  Conscience,  imagination,  and  earthly  teaching  has  led  them* 
to  picture  that  "Face"  distorted  by  wrath.  On  the  contrary  that  Face 
has  won  every  soul  that  has  seen  the  expression  of  the  Divine  character 
in  it,  from  little  children  to  Saul  of  Tarsus.  What  soul  was  ever 
saved  by  believing  that  God  was  just?  As  those  who  would  deny  the 
truth  of  this  line  of  remark  insist  that  endless  torment  is  a  penalty 
exacted  by  justice,  we  wonder  they  do  not  deny  to  that  enthroned 
One  any  other  trait  of  character.  But  must  not  God's  whole  nature 
be  free  to  act?  And  must  He  not  thus  be  known  and  worshipped? 
Shall  Love  be  forbidden  to  act  in  grace  that  justice  be  not  tarnished? 
And  once  again  does  not  this  belittle  the  work  of  the  cross,  and  dim 
the  glory  of  that  righteousness  that  was  there  established  in  such  a 
way  that  He  himself  might  be  just,  and  the  justifier  of  Him  that  is  of 
faith  of  Jesus?  Do  not  limit  this  in  any  hasty  attempt  to  bolster  up  a 
doctrine  or  a  theory.  What  is  the  righteousness  of  God?  You  may 
say  it  is  only  consummated  when  one  believes.  Yes,  to  human  experi- 
ence, but  this  changes  the  question.  Who  are  you  to  say  that  eternal 
unbelief  is  certain?  Scripture?  No,  you  have  a  sandy  foundation, 
when  you  insist  that  olamic  and  eonian  can  mean  both  limited  and 
unlimited  duration.  Partizans  of  a  creed  cry  out.  You  are  limiting 
God.  No,  only  recognizing  the  time  and  space  limits  of  the  creature's 
apprehension;  you  are  limiting  God's  love,  power,  wisdom,  while 
claiming  immortality  for  yourself,  and  insisting  on  it  that  "eternity" 
is  not  too  big  a  word  for  present  use.  Wake  up!  Eternity?  What 
do  you  know  about  endless  duration,  you  creature  of  time  and  space. 


HEAVEN,    HADES,    GEHENNA,    ETC.  I47 

But  the  Bible  says  eternal?  If  you  continue  to  endorse  this  false 
and  carnal  translation,  there  is  no  more  to  be  said. 

Cox  says  of  hell,  truly,  "It  is  not  the  counterpart  of  any  original 
word  of  Scripture."  (On  the  other  hand,  it  was  a  legal  idea  that  men 
had,  and  they  searched  Scripture  for  endorsement.  They  proclaim 
that  they  have  found  it  in  Sheol,  Hades,  Gehenna,  Tartarus,  The 
Lake  of  the  Fire,  The  Pit,  Abaddon,  Perdition.) 

Cox  says  of  Tartarus  (II  Peter  2:4,  9),  "The  Lord  knows  how 
to  reserve  unrighteous  men,  under  punishment,  unto  the  day  of  judg- 
ment." This,  then,  is  not  the  final  estate,  but  that  in  which  they  await 
judgment.  Peter  cites  Sodom's  overthrow  and  the  antediluvians, 
but  first  he  mentions  the  example  of  the  angels  whom  God  spared  not, 
but  cast  them  into  Tartarus,  delivering  them  over  into  dens  of  dark- 
ness, to  be  held  in  custody  "with  a  view  to  judgment." 

Anderson  says,  "Tartarus  was  therefore  not  final,  but  a  place  in 
which  they  were  held  until  the  time  of  judgment  arrived." 

Paradise  and  Gehenna,  waiting  places,  intermediate ;  so  Hades ;  the 
demons  expect  torment  when  judgment  comes;  they  are  all  ignorant  of 
Gospel. 


CHAPTER  IX 
FREE-WILL,  OR  SELF-DETERMINATION 

When  natural  religious  philosophers  seat  themselves  in  the  chair 
of  sj^stematic  theologj^,  they  give  utterance  to  some  astounding  assump- 
tions as  to  present  and  future  relations  between  God  and  man.  But 
of  all  these  the  assertions  made  concerning  man's  free-will  (they 
would  demand  a  capital  F)  and  its  powers  are  the  most  dogmatic. 
They  savor  of  that  idea,  the  first  utterance  of  which  was,  "Ye  shall  be 
as  gods,"  and  the  culmination  of  which  (so  near  at  hand)  will  be  the 
Armageddon  opposition  to  all  that  is  called  God. 

First,  "Who  art  thou,  O  man,  to  criticize  God?  Should  the  thing 
made  say  to  the  Maker,  Why  have  you  made  me  thus?" 

Second,  That  a  man's  will  can  successfully  resist  God's  will  in- 
volves the  idea  that  a  man  is  nothing  but  a  will,  and  that  there  is 
nothing  in  his  nature  that  can  be  moved  upon  to  change  his  will.  Is  it 
true  that  God  in  his  Wisdom  and  Power  and  Love  has  not  resources  in 
reserve  that  can  successfully  appeal  to  any  creature  that  he  has  made? 
Unless,  indeed,  you  hold  that  in  this  self-determination  of  the  creature 
he  is  but  another  God,  grown  wiser  than  his  Creator. 

Third,  Consider  the  case  of  Saul  of  Tarsus  in  this  connection ;  his 
prominence,  his  character;  the  dramatic  incident,  thrice  recounted, 
that  emphasizes  his  entrance  on  the  scene;  his  remarkable  life,  his 
commissions,  his  ministry,  so  universal  in  its  scope;  and  then  read 
carefully  in  his  first  epistle  to  Timothy,  Chapter  i,  verses  12  to  17, 
what  he  was,  how  he  was  saved,  why  the  Lord  had  mercy  upon  him. 
Saul  was  chosen  from  his  birth,  and  thus  singled  out,  for  an  elect 
special  dealing  for  two  declared  reasons.  First,  because  he  did  it 
ignorantly,  and  in  unbelief.  The  sin  element  is  in  the  background. 
Second,  that  God's  method  with  him,  which  has  not  yet  been  dupli- 
cated, was  to  be  a  sample  of  how  some  hereafter  should  trust  in  Christ 
Jesus  unto  eonian  life.  Saul  was  the  first  fruit,  the  sample,  of  uni- 
versality of  mercy  in  action,  and  successful  in  the  face  of  self-will 
of  the  most  determined  character,  of  sin  against  light,  of  the  abuse  of 
privilege,  gifts,  opportunities.  "Chief  of  sinners;"  no  Judas  or  Jeze- 
bel, or  Nero  or  Bloody  Mary,  Annas,  Caiphas,  High-priest  or 
cannibal,  was  beyond  him  as  worthy  of  punishment.  But  punishment 
he  received  not.    Nor  will  any  ignorant  or  unbelieving  one  of  whom 

148 


FREE-WILL,    OR    SELF-DETERMINATION  1 49 

he  is  a  chief  and  sample,  "hereafter,"  at  the  eonian  "sitting"  of  the 
Great  White  Throne,  receive  other  than  the  mercy  which  Saul  received. 
Such  is  the  declaration  of  this  passage.  And  if  this  force  of  it  is  to  be 
rejected,  it  should  be  only  after  the  most  searching  consideration  of  its 
words  in  every  possible  light,  dispensational,  timely,  and  contextual. 
The  commission  of  Paul  who  writes  it,  the  place  chronologically  it  has 
in  the  progressive  nature  of  his  teaching,  and  the  spiritual  intelligence 
of  the  person  addressed,  and  the  completeness  of  it,  make  the  omission 
of  certain  things  significant.  Paul's  second  group  of  letters  was  writ- 
ten to  the  whole  church,  his  third  group  was  confined  to  saints  and 
believers,  and  in  this  fourth  group  he  singles  out  two  faithful  co- 
laborers  in  full  fellowship  with  the  truth  of  his  previous  revelations. 
These  only  could  receive  it  as  full-grown ;  they  are  not  the  "infants" 
of  Heb.  5:  12-14;  nor  the  "carnal"  of  I  Cor.  3:  1-3. 

The  fact  that  Saul's  conversion  was  through  the  sight  of  Messiah, 
as  the  conversion  of  the  nation  will  be  when  His  feet  stand  upon  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  but  emphasizes  the  greater  fact.  For  Israel  is  a 
first-born  Son,  with  a  double  portion  to  meet  the  responsibilities  of  his 
prerogative.  Neither  nations  nor  individuals  live  for  themselves  alone, 
and  if  hard-hearted  Israel  is  to  be  born  from  above,  and  love  the  Lord, 
then  also  the  sadly  ignorant  and  unbelieving  will  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  the  divers  manners  that  are  within  the  purpose  of  God  for  their 
illumination.  Such  consideration  should  be  enough  to  condemn  the 
rabid  egotism  that  could  exalt  Free-will  into  Free-agency,  and  then 
into  self-determination.    This  latter  term  is  now  the  fashion. 

Dean  Torrey  WTites  ( 1918  A.  D.) ,  "God  has  made  us  in  His  own 
image,  with  a  moral  nature,  with  a  capacity  for  self-determination, 
with  a  power  of  choice,  and  men  can — choose  to  reject  the  One  who 
was  wounded  for  their  transgressions  and  bruised  for  their  iniquities, 
and  upon  whom  the  chastisement  of  their  peace  was  laid,  and  some 
will  so  choose/"  Well,  Dean  Torrey  has  before  this  testified  that  at 
one  time  "he  did  so  choose  himself."  What  changed  his  choice?  Did 
not  Saul  so  choose?  What  changed  Saul's  choice?  Who  initiated  the 
movement  of  forces  which  brought  about  the  change  ?  Did  the  sinner 
seek  the  Savior  before  the  Savior  sought  the  sinner? 

Dean  Gray  writes  of  the  rich  man  of  Luke  16:  19-31,  "There  is 
not  one  word  of  repentance ;  he  seems  almost  content  where  he  is.  He 
would  prevent  the  like  experience  to  his  relatives,  but  as  for  himself, 
his  will  is  definitely  fixed  to  abide  there !  .  .  .  Does  not  evil  cloud  the 


I50  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

intellect  so  as  to  render  impotent  the  very  faculties  by  which  it  might 
be  eradicated  ?  And  what  about  the  human  will  ?  In  order  to  be  free, 
must  not  the  will  be  unrestricted  in  its  exercise?  And  who  can  say 
that  any  soul  in  hell  will  of  its  own  free  will  choose  to  repent  and  turn 
to  God?"  Is  this  Ambassador  for  Christ  retained  by  the  other  side? 
Why,  then,  no  suggestion  of  Scripture  that  speaks  of  hope?  And  more 
also,  Why  ignore  the  declared  "reconciliation  of  the  Universe?" 

Dr.  Julius  MuUer,  on  sin,  says,  "Blasphemy  is  its  culmination 
(Matt.  12:  31)  ;  that  sin  excludes  forgiveness  because  it  destroys  the 
capacity  for  repentance."  This  is  from  one  of  the  "profound"  the- 
ologians. Free-will,  having  safely  put  its  owner  into  hell,  must  be 
destroyed  so  that  it  cannot  let  him  out. 

Even  the  "Mitigators"  admit,  "There  jnay  be  those  eternally 
damned  so  far  as  their  abuse  of  freedom  continues  eternally." 

"There  is  no  standing  still,  good  grows  better,  evil  grows  worse. 
Sin  which  belongs  to  a  man  at  death  develops  into  that  blasphemy 
which  casts  down  to  eternal  fellowship  with  Satan." 

Words!  Words!  Words!  without  knowledge,  but  they  are  chains 
which  ecclesiastics  rivet  on  their  laity,  even  as  the  Pharisees  bound 
heavy  burdens  upon  men's  shoulders.     (Matt.  23:  4.) 

"The  will,  in  the  exercise  of  its  imperishable  gift  of  freedom,  may 
accept  even  an  endless  punishment  and  find  peace  in  the  acceptance." 
But,  having  once  chosen  punishment  rather  than  pardon,  it  becomes 
impotent?  and  never  can  or  will  make  any  other  choice?    So  they  say. 

"The  transgression  which  is  to  receive  the  endless  punishment  is 
voluntary.  Sin  is  unforced  human  agency  [but  not  uninfluenced]. 
This  is  the  uniform  premise  of  Christian  theologians  of  all  schools. 
Endless  punishment  supposes  the  liberty  of  the  human  will  and  is 
impossible  without  it." 

Shedd,  "The  endlessness  of  sin  results  from  the  nature  and  energy 
of  self-determination.  There  is  no  will  so  wilful  as  a  wicked  will. 
Enmity  and  hatred  become  more  and  more  Satanic,  the  sinful  will 
grows  into  a  bondage.  Sin  is  the  suicidal  action  of  the  human  will." 
Thus,  it  kills  itself  and  keeps  itself  killed.  "The  will  to  resist  sin  may 
die  out  of  a  man,  but  the  conscience  to  condemn  it  never  can."  "When 
his  will  to  good  is  all  gone,  there  remain  these  two  in  his  immortal 
spirit,  sin  and  conscience,  brimstone  and  fire."  This  is  all  sophistry, 
but  it  is  in  keeping.  The  ingenuity  of  the  inquisitor  is  seen  in  this 
demon  of  self-determination  which  makes  a  man  choose  hell,  and  then 


FREE-WILL,    OR    SELF-DETERMINATION  151 

annihilates  itself,  so  that  it  can  no  more  be  exercised  to  choose  a  differ- 
ent fate.  Or,  we  may  say:  having  made  a  bad  choice,  man  loses 
free-will,  lest  systematic  theology  should  lose  its  pet  doctrine  and  prove 
itself  wanting. 

Advocates  of  hell  make  these  presumptions;  that  some  will  main- 
tain a  will  contrary  to  God's  will  endlessly;  that  they  will  continue 
in  endless  impenitence,  for  without  it,  endless  punishment  could  not 
be  maintained.  And  to  make  sure  that  some  will  thus  endlessly  defy 
God's  will,  they  assert  that  the  issues  between  God  and  man  are  settled 
for  each  individual  in  his  lifetime  only. 

Here  is  the  cold-blooded  theological  position:  The  Professor 
says:  "If  he  can  demonstrate  that  the  principles  of  eternal  rectitude 
are  not  in  the  least  degree  infringed  upon,  but  are  fully  maintained 
when  sin  is  endlessly  punished,  he  has  done  all  that  his  problem  re- 
quires. Whatever  is  just  is  beyond  all  rational  attack."  As  if  God 
were  nothing  but  an  animated  testing  machine!  But  even  on  this  low 
plane  there  is  no  reference  to  any  standard  of  what  is  right.  This 
objection  is  not  to  be  lightly  dismissed,  for  the  Bible  reveals  several 
different  standards.  "Sin  and  conscience  remain,"  but  is  conscience 
sure  that  it  has  the  right  standard? 

1.  There  was  created  righteousness,  and  Adam  was  a  sample 
(Eccl.  7:  29). 

2.  There  is  the  Covenant  Standard  of  the  Decalog  (Deut. 
6:  5,  25;  30:  6;  Ezek.  i8:  20). 

3.  There  is  the  general  Gentile  Standard  (Rom.  2:  14,  15). 

4.  And  there  is  the  Righteousness  of  God.  The  risen  Christ  is 
the  sample  of  this  last  standard.  (Col.  3:  10.)  It  would  be  sinful 
and  wicked  for  a  man  to  kill  another;  but  Jehovah  says,  "I  kill." 
If  Jehovah  could  not,  or  did  not,  make  that  dead  man  "alive,"  in- 
justice might  be  charged;  but  "all  His  ways  are  right." 

There  is  a  free  "will"  and  a  free  "will  not."  "Son,  go  work 
to-day  in  the  vineyard."  "I  will  not,"  "but  afterwards  he  repented 
himself  and  went."  The  second  answered,  "I  go,  sir,"  and  went  not. 
Matt.  1 1 :  20-24,  Luke  10:  12-16,  Here  we  see  the  free  "will-not" 
of  Tyre  and  Sidon  and  Sodom  in  unhampered  exercise.  The  state- 
ment is  made,  however,  that  these  "will-nots"  would  have  been  re- 
versed without  violating  the  sanctity  of  self-determination  if  God  had 
sent  someone  there  to  do  certain  mighty  works  such  as  were  done  two 
thousand  years  later  in  Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  and  Capernaum.     Set 


152  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

your  spiritual  senses  to  work  on  this,  and  even  that  natural  intuitive 
sense  of  justice  that  looms  up  so  large  in  this  discussion.  God  could 
have  brought  about  repentance,  but  He  did  not,  and  yet  He  is  "not 
willing  that  any  should  perish."  Why  let  the  self-determination  of 
Sodom  send  all  but  Lot's  family  to  hell,  when  Jehovah  could  have  pre- 
vented it  without  desecration  of  Sodom's  Holy  Will  ? 

Come  down  later ;  Capernaum,  in  free  exercise  of  will,  did  not 
repent  at  the  evidence  that  would  have  saved  Sodom.  But  may  we  not 
say  that  God  could  have  multiplied  persuasive  motives  that  would 
have  availed?  When  Jerusalem  was  about  to  be  taken  by  Titus, 
would  they  not  have  hailed  their  Messiah  with  all  His  holy  angels  as 
readily  as  they  will  when  He  does  come  to  deliver,  as  the  prophets  tell 
us,  when  His  feet  stand  upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  the  besieged 
remnant  cry,  "This  is  our  God."  Surely  Capernaum  would  have 
repented,  and  would  not  have  been  brought  down  to  Hades;  Jerusalem 
would  have  stood.  If  Jesus,  Messiah,  had  appeared  to  Saul  of  Tarsus 
as  he  held  the  clothes  of  Stephen's  religious  murderers,  would  not 
the  effect  have  been  the  same?  Oh,  no!  you  say,  the  time  was  not 
ripe,  Saul  was  not  ready  then!  All  right!  Then  why  not  rightly 
divide  the  Scriptures  which  show  that  The  Son  of  God  follows  a 
program  and  confess  that, 

"There  is  a  time  for  every  purpose. 
And  for  every  desire  under  the  sun, 
A  time  for  birth,  and  a  time  for  death; — 
A  time  to  kill,  and  a  time  to  cure ; — 
A  time  of  war,  and  a  time  of  peace." 

There  is  a  time  and  a  course  of  treatment  for  Saul  and  there  is 
a  time  for  Paul,  a  time  for  the  elect,  and  a  time  for  the  non-elect. 
Going  back.  If  the  "One  Sent"  to  be  "the  Savior  of  the  World"  could 
have  saved  Sodom,  but  did  not,  are  we  to  believe  that  He  missed  His 
only  opportunity,  and  now  nevermore  can  He  cease  to  torment  them 
lest  He  go  contrary  to  man's  intuitions  as  to  what  He  ought  to  do? 
Is  it  not  possible  "to  justify  the  ways  of  God  to  man"?  Has  God 
allowed  the  will  of  Sodom  to  harden  beyond  the  condition  where  He 
could  have  reached  them?  Perhaps  you  retort  with,  "Will  not  the 
Judge  of  the  whole  earth  do  justice?" — Certainly.  Do  not  you  your- 
self believe  so?  "But  God  does  not  have  to  save  anyone  if  He  does 
not  want  to?"  Why  ask  such  a  useless  question  when  you  profess 
to  believe  that  "He  desireth  that  all  shall  come  to  Him"? 


FREE-WILL,   OR    SELF-DETERMINATION  153 

Judah,  Israel,  Moab,  Ammon,  Assyria,  Egypt,  Elam,  Sodom, — 
all  these  have  had  destruction  threatened  and  executed,  and  yet  their 
restoration  is  foretold  (Jer.  33:7;  48:7,47;  Ezek.  16:53;  Ezek. 
29:14;  153.19:24,25).  They  had  their  time  of  "will-not"  in 
ignorance;  they  have  their  time  of  restoration  when,  in  the  day  of 
Messiah's  power,  the  people  shall  be  "willing." 

Is  this  ogre  of  Free-will  some  demon  that  possesses  us  just  to 
thwart  the  fulfillment  of  desire?  Or  does  the  will  obey  the  desire  of 
the  heart?  How  is  this?  (Prov.  4:  23.)  "Keep  thy  heart  with  all 
diligence  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of  life."  Matt.  12:  34,  "Out  of 
the  abundance  of  the  heart  the  mouth  speaketh."  (Matt.  15:  18-20; 
Mark  7 :  21-23  ;  Jas.  4:3;  Jer.  18 :  12.)  They  tell  us  that  sin  comes 
by  self-determination ;  but,  "when  the  woman  SAW — TO  BE  DE- 
SIRED," she  took.  Is  free-will  to  take  the  very  place  of  the  soul  of 
man?  Or  is  it  only  one  element?  Is  the  eighteenth  of  Jeremiah  to 
cut  no  figure  in  this  matter  of  salvation?  "Ye  stiff-necked  and  tin- 
circumcised  in  heart  and  ears,  ye  do  always  resist  the  Holy  Spirit; 
as  your  fathers  did  so  do  ye."  "And  Jehovah  thy  God  will  circumcise 
thy  heart  and  the  heart  of  thy  seed,  to  love  Jehovah  thy  God  with  all 
thy  heart,  and  with  all  thy  soul,  that  thou  mayest  live."  "And  so  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved,"  and  Free-will  has  to  come  tagging  after. 

The  Dean  says,  "Men  can,  if  they  will,  choose — to  trample  God's 
saving  love  under  foot — and  some  will  so  choose."  As  a  matter  of 
fact,  all  choose  to  do  so  by  nature,  but  when  they  come  into  the  new 
creation,  their  choice  is  actuated  as  Paul's  was,  "The  love  of  Christ 
constraineth  me." 

Origen  taught  the  perpetual  freedom  of  the  will!  Therefore  no 
limit  to  the  period  of  restoration.  Why  not!  If  a  man  is  pardoned 
and  saved  righteously  on  the  merits  of  Christ's  work,  and  if  in  free- 
will he  has  the  capacity  for  self-determination,  why  not  exercise  it  at 
any  future  time? 

If  a  man's  sins  merit  endless  punishment,  on  what  righteous  basis 
can  any  sinner  be  saved  that  does  not  obtain  endlessly.  Is  this  so  im- 
pyortant  free-will  taken  away  after  he  has  passed  a  certain  point? 

Gregory,  of  Nyassa,  "For  since  by  its  very  nature  evil  cannot  exist 
apart  from  free  choice;  when  all  free  choice  becomes  in  the  power  of 
God,  shall  not  evil  advance  to  utter  abolition,  so  that  no  receptacle 
for  it  shall  at  all  be  left?" 

Dean  Gray,  Luke  i6.  The  rich  man  in  Hades;  "He  seems  almost 


154  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER    ALL 

content  where  he  is" — "this  is  not  to  say  that  he  finds  the  place  de- 
sirable,"— "his  will  is  definitely  fixed  to  abide  there."  He  writes  as 
if  all  initiative  must  be  taken  by  the  sinner;  as  if  when  a  man  dies, 
God  could  do  no  more  for  him.  On  the  contrary,  it  is  then  that  most 
men  find  out  that  they  can  do  no  more  for  themselves.  Then,  un- 
hindered by  man's  bodily  desires,  God  has  a  free  field  to  influence  and 
instruct  the  spirit. 

The  Atonement  (used  as  a  theological  term  takes  in  much  more 
than  the  Scripture  does)  ;  it  secured  universal  blessing  as  far  as  God's 
part  is  concerned,  in  creation,  providence,  revelation,  redemption. 
Love,  Wisdom,  Power.  Also  as  far  as  God's  purpose,  desire,  promise, 
and  prophecy  is  concerned,  the  Universe  will  be  reconciled.  To  many 
the  only  unsurmountable  obstacle  is  the  free-will  of  the  sinner.  A 
sinner  hears,  sees,  wills,  submits  and  then  his  sins  are  pardoned.  That 
is,  they  say,  sins  up  to  date  only;  there  is  then  a  running  account  kept 
until  death.  And  again  this  denies  the  conclusive  merit  of  Christ's 
sacrifice. 

Article  43  of  the  Anglican  Church  was  dropped  in  1553,  A.  D. 
It  condemned  universal  restoration.  The  heading  was,  "All  men 
shall  not  be  saved  at  length,"  as  resting  on  new  interpretation  of 
"eternal."  This  wider  hope  does  not  appear  in  the  established  church, 
during  the  controversies  under  Elizabeth  and  James,  but  strangely 
enough  among  the  Puritans  of  Emmanuel  College,  Cambridge.  See 
words  of  Peter  Sterry. 

The  existence  of  departed  souls  of  the  wicked  is  not  one  of  works 
and  deeds,  but  of  thought  and  self-fathoming;  they  are  shut  up  to 
self.  They  have  remembrances,  but  not  hope;  for  they  are  ignorant 
of  Gospel.  In  life  their  mind  is  occupied  with  externals;  at  death  all 
these  distractions  cease ;  the  spirit  and  conscience  are  not  influenced  by 
veils  of  sense;  the  spirit  must  recognize  realities. 

Farrar,  "The  Christian  consciousness  of  salvation  in  all  its  fullness 
would  lose  its  deepest  reality  ^vere  the  doctrine  of  eternal  condemna- 
tion surrendered."  "It  must  be  allowed  that  universal  restoration 
finds  some  foundation  and  sanction  in  Scripture."  "Deep  search  dis- 
covers antinomies"  (contradictions?).  And  then  the  old  convenient 
excuse  comes  in,  "No  solution  is  to  be  found  in  our  present  stage  of 
knowledge,  etc."  (Because  "I"  have  not  found  it.)  "Antinomies" 
are  seen  in  Matt.  25:46;  Mark  9 143;  Matt.  12:32;  I  John  5:  16, 


FREE-WILL   OR    SELF-DETERMINATION  1 55 

which  have  endlessness;  and  I  Cor.  15 :  26,  28 ;  Eph.  i  :  10;  Col.  i  :  20, 
which  have  reconciliation. 

Martenson  finds  hope  "starting  from  the  idea  of  God's  Fatherly 
character,  leading  on  to  Universal  Restoration  (Reconciliation  is  the 
Biblical  word),  while  life  and  facts  conduct  us  to  the  dark  goal  of 
eternal  damnation."  Gospel  is  the  foundation  of  hope,  and  law  the 
element  of  despair,  would  be  truer  words. 

"Eons  may  pass!  but  if  the  will  is  free,  any  nature  endowed 
with  reason  may  pass  from  one  order  of  being  to  another!  each  act 
bringing  its  own  punishment  or  reward."  ("Plato,  De  Princ,"  I 
Ch.,  6.) 

Ps.  102 :  26;  II  Peter  3  :  10.  Change  is  not  destruction  for  animate 
or  inanimate.  "Our  God  is  a  consuming  fire;  this  fire  consumes  evil 
but  not  souls  that  He  has  redeemed." 

Illingsworth,  "All  actions  are  caused  (or  guided)  by  ends,  aims, 
purposes,  ideals,  which  we  are  free  to  follow  or  refuse.  Hence  we  are 
self-determined.  Choice  repeated  makes  habit;  habit,  character;  char- 
acter, destiny.  There  is  a  capacity  for  self-determination,  and  there- 
fore, self-creation.  Outward  things  do  not  choose;  the  inner  man 
chooses  its  own  end,  elects  what  it  will  become,  and  thereby  asserts  its 
existence."  Yes?  Is  it  not  ethical  and  emotional  also?  And  is  it 
independent  of  its  Creator? 

For  life  with  all  it  yields,  of  joy  and  woe 
And  hope  and  fear — (believe  the  aged  friend) 
Is  just  our  chance  of  learning  love. 
How  love  might  be,  hath  been  indeed,  and  is. 

— Browning,  "Death  in  the  Desert." 

Plumptre,  "There  are  many  among  the  dead  who  are  not  conscious 
of  one  act  of  will ;  who  have  not  made  a  deliberate  choice  of  evil,  who 
for  some  length  of  time  before  they  died  were  delirious,  etc.,  but  all 
this  need  not  be  argued." 

If  God  is  not  willing  that  any  should  perish,  does  he  become  will- 
ing after  a  man  dies? 

Men  ignorant  of  God  and  His  gospel  are  said  to  be  shut  up  to 
endless  hell  torments  without  knowing  why,  except  that  they  are  not 
what  they  ought  to  be.  And  they  know  not  how  to  change  them- 
selves, for  they  never  heard  of  a  transforming  power. 

Torrey,  "Beings  who  eternally  choose  sin  should  eternally  suffer." 
(And  why  not  state  the  alternative?)     "It  is  the  inescapable  teaching 


156  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

of  the  Word  of  God  that  all  who  go  out  of  this  life  without  having 
accepted  Jesus  Christ,  will  spend  eternity  in  a  hell  of  unutterable  con- 
scious anguish."  But  where  is  the  Scripture  so  boldly  appealed  to? 
No  one  tells  us  where  this  inescapable  teaching  is  to  be  found.  "Where 
the  tree  falls  it  shall  lie,"  has  been  referred  to.  Rev.  22 :  11;  this  has 
been  cited !  read  the  passage ;  it  is  addressed  to  prophetic  churches  that 
are  to  pass  the  testing  period  of  the  tribulation.  They  are  warned  that 
Messiah  is  soon  to  come.     It  is  pre-millennial. 

A  power  of  self-determination  is  credited  to  man,  which  Omnipo- 
tence and  Omniscience  is  not  able  to  sway  without  inconsistency, 
"The  only  door  of  salvation  has  been  closed  by  their  own  act."  God 
will  have  done  all  that  Infinite  Wisdom,  Power  and  Love  could  do 
to  save  them ;  but  they  would  not  come  to  Him,  they  choose  the  path 
of  ruin,  and  are  bound  by  the  cords  of  their  own  iniquities ;  they  have 
made  a  final  choice,  they  have  decreed  the  sempiternity  of  it.  Their 
punishment  is  inflicted  by  themselves.  Now  this  Free-will  that  sets 
itself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  and  decrees  at  the  same  time  that 
God  shall  keep  him  in  endless  existence,  in  which  he  endlessly  defies 
God,  weakens  at  last,  not  to  give  God  a  chance,  but  it  becomes  power- 
less to  change  fixed  habit  of  wickedness  in  order  through  repentance  to 
find  relief.  It  must  be  a  most  astounding  mind  that  can  think  of  any- 
thing while  enduring  the  accumulated  agonies,  endlessly,  increasing  in 
intensity,  which  it  is  said  he  suffers.  Are  they  human  beings,  or  me- 
chanical talking  machines  that  keep  up  this  vocabulary  of  horrors. 
Does  grace  produce  no  thrills,  that  this  "penny  dreadful"  stufiE  must 
be  resorted  to?  Free-agency  thus  ties  itself  up  in  indissoluble  chains. 
God  his  Maker  is  supposed  to  be  helpless  to  bring  about  anything 
better,  or  is  it  that  God  does  not  care  ?    Far  be  the  thought ! 

Shedd,  "Almightiness  itself  cannot  forgive  impenitence^  any  more 
than  it  can  square  a  circle."  Now  turn  to  Acts  13:  38.  Here  is  an 
address  to  impenitent  men.  "Unto  you  is  preached  forgiveness  of  sin," 
II  Cor.  5:  19,  "not  charging  their  sins  unto  them."  An  impenitent 
nation  crucified  its  King-Messiah.  He  prayed,  "Father  forgive  them, 
they  know  not  what  they  do."  Were  they  forgiven ? — Answer:  And 
they  have  remained  impenitent  to  this  day,  and  will,  until  his  feet  stand 
upon  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  they  say,  "This  is  our  God."  Peni- 
tent?— Yes,  but  centuries  after  they  were  forgiven.  Not  one  sin  has 
been  charged  since  resurrection;  Thanatos  does  not  hold  one  sinner. 


FREE-WILL   OR    SELF-DETERMINATION  157 

(Strong  meat  or  heresy,  which?)  Let  your  spiritual  senses  be  ex- 
ercised to  discern.     ( Heb.  5:14;!  Cor.  3:2.) 

Listen  to  Saul  of  Tarsus,  "I  obtained  mercy  because  I  did  it  in 
ignorance  and  unbelief!"  Have  the  advocates  of  endless  punishment 
for  sin  ever  referred  to  this  pertinent  precedent,  which  is  declared  to 
be  a  sample  of  God's  method  on  some  future  occasion?  Has  Saul's  ex- 
perience been  repeated? — No,  but  it  will  be  hereafter;  so  we  read  in 
I  Tim.  1:15. 

The  Lost!  Who  lost  them?  God?  "The  Son  of  Man  is  come 
to  seek  and  to  save  that  which  was  lost."  Jesus  found  the  lost  sheep, 
but  it  would  not  come  back,  says  the  theologian,  and  what  can  God 
do?    Will  He  have  to  lose  it? 

The  war  lords  of  government  and  the  theologians  of  religion  are 
in  the  same  condemnation.  Kings  and  kingdoms  form  the  only  human 
government  that  is  approved  of  God,  The  Bible  knows  nothing  of 
government  by  Demos.  There  can  be  no  order  or  efficiency  in  any 
kind  of  organization  unless  it  is  subject  to  one  head.  What  happens 
where  other  heads  are  added?  The  human  body  is  under  one  head, 
and  there  is  one  God  only.  It  is  expedient  certainly  when  the  world 
rejects  its  God  that  they  should  curb  the  power  of  their  kings  who 
have  prostituted  their  office  to  selfish  ends,  but  they  should  not  exalt 
their  shifty  democratic  idea  above  the  Divine  principle  of  order  under 
one  faithful  head.  This  is  why  Jesus  is  coming  again,  to  furnish  the 
world  with  a  political  head  after  God's  own  heart,  for  one  thousand 
years.    Is  there  any  other  hope  for  politics? 

We  also  read  that  the  priests'  lips  should  keep  knowledge,  and 
they  should  seek  the  law  at  his  mouth,  for  he  is  the  messenger  of 
Jehovah  of  Hosts.  With  very  rare  exceptions  the  priest  followed  the 
politician  in  prostituting  the  power  of  his  office.  For  practical  purposes 
let  us  substitute  "theologian"  for  "priest."  Systematic  theologians  are 
highly  esteemed  in  Christendom.  There  is  Augustine,  to  whose  name 
they  affix  the  word  saint ;  Thomas  Aquinas,  Dante,  Calvin,  Edwards, 
Pusey,  Hodge,  Shedd,  etc.  These  men  have  assumed  leadership  over 
the  minds  of  professing  Christians.  Our  Lord  said  of  the  religious 
leaders  of  Judaism,  "The  Scribes  and  Pharisees  have  seated  themselves 
on  Moses's  seat."  (Matt.  23:2.)  You  will  find  that  theologians 
have  perverted  this  passage  in  English  for  their  own  purpose,  wittingly 
or  unwittingly.  What  have  they  done  with  God's  blessed  purpose  in 
election? — They  have  perverted  it  to  mean  the  reprobation  of  all 


158  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

non-elect,  including  infants,  and  to  repeat  their  words  would  soil 
even  these  pages.  Were  Abraham  and  Israel  elect? — Yes.  Does  this 
predestine  all  the  rest  of  the  world  to  endless  torment? — Yes,  say 
the  theologians ;  but  no,  say  some  others,  there  are  some  elect  Gentiles. 
And  what  did  Jehovah  say  to  Abraham?  "In  thee  and  in  thy  seed 
shall  all  the  families  of  the  earth  be" — damned  or  blest?  The  elect 
nation  is  to  be  a  kingdom  of  priests  to  curse  the  Gentile  nations  of 
the  Millennium  or  to  bless  them?  All  God's  elect,  and  Jesus  was  one, 
were  chosen  to  be  ministers  of  blessing — not  for  their  own  selfish 
benefit.  But  Israel  has  called  the  non-elect  Gentiles  "dogs,"  and 
Christendom's  elect  have  doomed  the  non-elect  men,  women  and 
babes  to  the  vengeance  of  endless  torment. 

"Finally  impenitent,"  the  changes  are  rung  on  this,  but  what  is  its 
genesis?  At  the  end  of  what?  And  where  is  Scripture  authority  for 
it?  God  himself,  say  the  Doctors  and  Lawyers  and  Scribes,  cannot 
save  the  finally  impenitent.  But  this  has  the  transcendental  taint  of 
eternalism.  If  the  end  of  eternity  finds  men  impenitent,  it  is  so  far 
away  we  cannot  see  it.  "They  have  made  a  final  choice ;  they  have 
decreed  the  finality  and  eternity  of  it,  not  God."     (Haley.) 

"Too  Late!"  they  say;  the  door  is  shut.  Omnipotence  cannot  open 
it.  They  cry  in  the  interests  of  Justice,  Shut  that  door !  Opportunity 
is  brief,  but  consequences  are  uncontrollable.  Some  say  God  shuts 
them  out;  others  assert  that  the  door  is  closed  by  the  soul's  free  act. 
Who  is  the  doorkeeper  of  salvation  ?  Why  should  not  our  sense  of 
Divine  justice  demand  to  know  why  Omnipotence,  Omniscience  and 
Infinite  Love  are  to  be  overborne  by  a  creature  made  for  his  glory, 
who  can  remain  alienated  when  all  else  is  reconciled?  What  being  is 
this  that  with  all  evil  ingenuity  can  thwart  Truth,  Wisdom  and  Love 
and  Power?  Is  this  another  God  who  thus  fulfills  the  tempter's 
primal  promise  ?    God  of  the  Nadir  as  opposed  to  God  of  the  Zenith  ? 

"No  Scripture  is  given  for  the  supremacy  of  man's  will  over  the 
wishes  of  God,  except  that  He  'has  made  us  in  His  own  image.'  But 
if  man  is  made  in  the  image  of  a  god  who  has  no  power  to  carry  out 
his  wishes,  why  should  man  be  so  highly  endowed?" — A.  E.  Knock. 

Man's  will  is  free  within  the  limits  of  its  own  function.  It  is  one 
of  many  elements  of  a  man's  nature.  It  is  limited  by  its  relation  to 
these  other  elements.  It  cannot  be  taken  out  of  these  relations,  be 
isolated,  be  given  a  personality,  and  set  up  above  all  that  is  called  God. 
Such  an  antichristian  attempt  comes  to  nothing.    A  man  and  woman 


FREE-WILL    OR    SELF-DETERMINATION  159 

are  free  in  themselves  and  in  their  own  sphere,  but  in  the  marriage  re- 
lation they  are  limited,  and  limited  without  coercion.  Is  not  the  Son 
of  God  free? — Yes.  But  in  relation  to  a  universe  in  process  of  educa- 
tion. He  is  limited  by  that  relation.  It  is  in  this  limitation  that  He  is 
misjudged.  But  is  He  coerced? — No.  "In  the  volume  of  the  Book 
it  is  written  of  me,  I  delight  to  do  Thy  will."  So  Paul  said,  "The 
love  of  Christ  constraineth  me." 

Man's  will  is  free  in  itself,  but  limited  by  its  relations  to  other 
things.  Man's  will  in  relation  to  God's  will  has  this  blessed  limitation, 
"Thy  will,  not  mine,  be  done."  Can  there  be  a  more  blessed  exercise 
of  man's  will  than  that  of  our  Lord  Jesus  in  Gethsemane?  What  is 
the  fruit  of  man's  v/ill  that  follows  man's  ignorant  independence  from 
Adam  to  Antichrist? 


CHAPTER  X 
MISCELLANEOUS  QUOTATIONS 

In  this  chapter  there  are  a  number  of  sayings  that  are  of  interest 
in  connection  with  the  theme  of  this  book.  They  are  taken  from 
literary  scribes,  religious  lawyers,  theological  Pharisees,  and  men  of 
God.  Some  have  seated  themselves  in  Moses's  seat  as  having  author- 
ity. Some  ask  with  Pilate,  "What  is  Truth?"  Some  reply  to  the 
question,  "Dost  thou  believe  on  the  Son  of  God?"  "Who  is  He, 
Lord,  that  I  might  telieve?"  Some  would  say  with  the  Greeks,  "Sirs, 
we  would  see  Jesus."  Some  are  like  the  Ethiopian;  he  came  to  the 
Holy  City,  Jerusalem,  seeking  light  on  "The  unknown  God,"  but 
departed  uninstructed,  and,  even  with  a  copy  of  the  Oracles  of  God, 
open  to  the  words  of  Isaiah  53,  before  him,  was  still  compelled  to 
answer  Philip,  "How  can  I  understand  unless  some  one  explain  it  to 
me?"  There  are  moderns  as  eager  and  ready  as  Zaccheus,  as  noble 
and  diligent  as  the  Bereans,  and  even  as  the  Thessalonians,  who  are 
slow  to  perceive. 

As  to  our  Bible  expositors,  we  see  some  sure  where  others  doubt; 
doctors  disagreeing,  and  scribes  disputing,  WTien  for  important  doc- 
trines some  find  no  authority  where  others  have  "confirmation  strong 
as  proofs  of  Holy  Writ,"  how  can  the  ordinary  believer  come  to  the 
knowledge  of  the  truth  ?  How  know  whether  God's  vengeance  awaits 
sinners  in  the  future?  Or  whether  the  sin  question  was  settled  at 
the  cross?  How  can  he  be  made  to  see  that  the  work  of  the  Son 
reveals  the  character  of  the  Father  ?  Must  he  have  the  experience  of 
the  blind  man  of  John  9,  be  cast  out  of  the  synagogue  to  find  the  tnith 
in  Jesus?  The  theologian  seems  to  have  the  key  of  knowledge,  but 
he  enters  not,  and  hinders  others.  Happily,  the  Spirit  of  God  finds  the 
man  who  is  eager  to  learn,  and  God  reveals  to  babes  what  He  may  hide 
from  the  wise  and  prudent.  He  will  unveil  the  light  in  due  season 
even  to  legal  zealots,  though  they  may  have  to  take  a  large  dose  of 
"their  own  way"  first.  The  nature  of  the  experience  that  Israel  will 
have  to  pass  through  is  unveiled  in  the  last  book  of  prophecy.  That 
will  be  a  terrible  "operation"  that  removes  the  veil  from  their  eyes. 
But  blessed  are  those  who,  having  not  seen,  yet  believe.  Prophecy  is 
said  to  be  a  light  in  a  dark  place,  but  "systematic  Theology"  seems 
to  have  no  use  for  it.    The  little  dogs  under  the  table  can  but  pick  up 

160 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  l6l 

the  crumbs  that  the  professors  throw  them.  The  light  of  prophecy 
has  been  turned  to  darkness  by  pride  and  presumption,  and  there  is 
widespread  prejudice  against  it.  Ignorant? — Well  the  highly  educated 
Elliott  is  not  so  classed,  but  he  interprets  the  Apocalypse  by  historical 
events  of  this  unprophetic  dispensation.  The  ninth  chapter  of  Reve- 
lation describes  the  demoniac  locusts  as  "like  horses  made  ready  for 
battle — and  they  had  tails."  These  tails,  says  the  expositor  Elliott,  are 
"the  horse  tails  borne  as  symbols  of  authority  by  the  Turkish  pashas." 
Dean  Alfofd  calls  this  "the  culminating  instance  of  incongruous  inter- 
pretation." But  the  Dean  himself  says  that  the  church  is  seen  every- 
where in  the  symbols  of  the  Apocalypse,  with  one  exception.  This  is 
certainly  incongruous  interpretation,  even  though  the  "horse  tails"  may 
be  called  the  culmination. 

1.  Canon  Farrar,  in  his  "Eternal  Hope,"  p.  68,  says,  "Pardon 
me  for  reproducing  what  I  abhor."  This  is  also  appropriate  to  the 
present  chapter. 

2.  There  was  a  certain  newsboy  in  New  York  who  had  a  very 
valuable  asset  in  the  volume,  tone  and  thrill  that  he  could  put  into  the 
one  word  "h-o-r-r-i-b-l-e,"  and  he  used  it  on  every  possible  occasion. 
One  day  in  the  competitive  rush  to  get  on  the  street  first,  he  seized 
his  papers  and  made  for  his  corner  before  looking  at  the  headlines; 
but  he  began  promptly  with  his  H-O-R-R-I-B-L-E !  and  hastily  glanc- 
ing to  see  what,  could  find  no  murder  or  accident,  and  had  to  be  con- 
tent with  "FALL  IN  STOCKS."  The  "lure  of  the  horrible"  tempts 
to  rhetorical  thrillers,  to  sensational  headlines,  and  to  oratorical 
climaxes  in  clerical  dogmatics.  A  lover  of  the  truth  should  stick  to  the 
text. 

3.  "What  the  popular  notion  of  hell  is,  you,  my  brethren,  are  all 
aware.  Many  of  us  were  scared  with  it,  horrified  with  it,  perhaps 
almost  maddened  by  it,  in  our  childhood.  It  is,  that  the  moment  a 
human  being  dies,  at  whatever  age,  under  whatever  disadvantages, 
his  fate  is  sealed  finally  and  forever,  and  that  if  he  die  in  unrepented 
sin,  that  fate  is  a  never-ending  agony,  amid  physical  tortures  the  most 
frightful  that  can  be  imagined." — Farrar. 

4.  Farrar  admits  the  criticism  that  certain  quotations  disfigure 
his  pages,  and  says,  "Some  of  them  fill  me  with  shame  and  horror." 
"But  it  is  painfully  necessary  to  show  what  it  is  that  men  claiming  all 
the  infallibility  of  authorized  teachers  have  taught  as  revelations  of 
God.     Romanist,  Protestant,  Anglican  and  Non-conformist."     You 


1 62  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

will  find  all  the  samples  necessary  in  Farrar's  "Mercy  and  Judg- 
ment." There  he  quotes  Cyprian,  Minocius  Felix,  Augustine, 
Cassarius  of  Aries,  Venerable  Bede,  Vision  of  Tundale,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  Bonaventura,  Fray  Luis  de  Granada,  Sir  Thomas  Moore, 
Calvin,  Ignatius  Loyola,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Nieremberg,  Catechismus 
Romanus,  Francis  de  Sales,  Barrow,  Bunyan,  Baxter,  South,  Thos. 
Boston,  Young,  Jonathan  Edwards,  Alban  Butler,  John  Whitaker, 
John  Wesley,  Dean  of  Gloucester,  Bishop  Oxenden,  Dr.  Gardner 
Spring,  Bonheur,  Catechism  of  the  Wesleyan  Methodists,  Keble,  John 
Foster,  Dante's  Inferno  Illustrated  by  Dore,  etc. 

5.  "In  description  of  hell's  fierce  fiery  eyes,  and  blaspheming 
yells,  and  lurid  vaults,  and  mutual  hatreds,  and  mighty  demons,  and 
brutal  rioting,  drunkards,  and  unchecked  debauchees,  whose  every 
touch  is  torment,  have  we  not  languages  which  differ  widely  from 
the  language  of  Scripture?  The  woodcuts  of  Pinamonti  are  before  me. 
Even  to  look  upon  them  seems  to  leave  on  the  mind  filled  with  faith  in 
God's  Fatherhood  the  effect  of  a  sin  which  needs  immediate  lustra- 
tion."— Farrar. 

6.  It  produces  a  perfect  fear  that  casts  out  love. 

7.  Minucius  Felix  spoke  of  the  fire  of  hell  as  a  conscious  fire 
which  at  once  burns  and  renews,  feeds  on  and  nourishes  the  limbs. 

8.  This  idea  "has  arisen  solely  from  the  abuse,  exaggeration,  and 
misrepresentation  of  metaphors;  and  has  been  founded  upon  the  ex- 
position of  all  parts  of  the  Bible,  alike  by  those  who,  from  stereo- 
typed prejudices,  or  from  want  of  literary  training,  and  especially  from 
their  complete  ignorance  of  the  modes  of  Eastern  expression,  refuse 
to  weigh  the  meanings  of  words,  or  to  interpret  language  by  the  ordi- 
nary laws  of  historic  criticism.  (Farrar.)  "That  the  fire  of  hell  in 
which  sinners  are  tormented,  is  corporeal  and  material,  all  living  the- 
ologians, nay  more,  all  Christians,  are  agreed."  Pusey  admits  that  the 
fire  of  hell  has  been  understood  to  be  material  fire  "almost  universally 
by  Christians." — Petavius,  1652. 

9.  "It  is  infinitely  beyond  the  highest  archangel's  faculty  to  ap- 
prehend a  thousandth  part  of  the  horror  of  the  doom  of  eternal 
damnation." — John  Foster,  1843. 

10.  "Insatiate  desire  for  intoxicating  drinks  will  not  wholly  die 
with  the  body;  there  may  well  be  a  mental  element  in  it  which  will 
survive  the  dissolution  of  the  corporeal  organism.  Must  not  this  ap- 
petite torture  its  victim  forever  by  its  non-gratification  ?"    "The  filthy 


MISCELLANEOUS   QUOTATIONS  163 

sensualist  whose  earthly  life  has  been  the  prey  of  licentious  passion, 
may,  in  the  sexless  future,  be  tormented  by  the  inextinguishable  fires 
of  lust, — and  that  with  no  possible  or  conceivable  opportunity  of  re- 
prieve or  gratification.  Such  would  be  a  dread  ingredient  in  the  cup 
of  final  (?)  woe." — Haley. 

11.  "These  scorpion  passions  will  sting  and  torment  your  soul 
with  unutterable  anguish." — Horace  Mann. 

12.  This  is  almost  a  quotation  from  Aristotle,  one  of  the  most  dis- 
tinguished pagan  philosophers.  He  says,  "We  must  be  pained,  it  is  a 
necessity  of  our  moral  being,  when  the  wicked  do  not  suffer,  and 
when  the  righteous  are  not  rewarded."  Cicero  felt  that  "the  un- 
utterable wickedness  of  Cataline  and  his  fellow-conspirators  would  be 
suitably  rewarded  only  by  eternal  punishment."  "So  the  barbarians 
on  Melita  (Acts  28 14).  The  feeling  which  they  expressed  was  the 
natural  and  normal  one"  [but  not  the  gospel  one]. 

13.  "In  that  world  of  never-ending  gloom  there  will  be  no  pos- 
sibility of  repentance."  "A  state  of  conscious,  unutterable,  endless 
torment  and  anguish.  This  conception  is  an  appalling  one,  the  unmis- 
takable (?)  inescapable  (?)  teaching  of  God's  own  word." — Torrey. 

14.  Bishop  Tillotson  "insists  on  the  exclusion  of  impenitent  sin- 
ners from  heaven,"  but  he  adds,  "The  Judge  retains  the  right  to  remit 
the  penalty!"     But  forgiveness  by  itself  is  not  a  saving  gospel. 

15.  Those  who  uphold  the  popular  view  with  "tetanic  rigidity," 
who  believe  in  endless  and  increasing  and  most  ingeniously  conceived 
torments  as  the  penalty  for  sin,  charge  those  who  repudiate  these 
horrors  with  having  a  low  estimate  of  sin's  heinousness.  They  gloat 
over  penal  torments  as  gratifying  their  sense  of  abstract  justice.  But 
it  may  be  asked,  "How  can  justice  ever  be  satisfied  if  the  penalty  never 
can  be  fully  executed?  Punishment  must  be  completed  if  justice  is  to 
be  vindicated.  The  Pharisees  thought  that  Jesus  had  a  low  estimate  of 
sin.  They  said,  this  man  eateth  with  publicans  and  sinners;  this  man, 
if  he  were  a  prophet,  "would  have  perceived  that  she  is  a  sinner;" 
"Father  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what  they  do."  How  did  Jesus 
estimate  sin?  By  the  price  paid  for  redemption?  Or  by  endless  ven- 
geance to  be  executed  upon  the  sinner  ?  Yes,  there  was  vengeance,  but 
it  was  exhausted  upon  the  sin-bearer.  Why  deny  the  sufficiency  of  that 
act  of  grace?  Why  argue  the  necessity  of  endless  punishment  to  sup- 
plement it?  The  natural  conscience  will  confess  guilt,  will  recognize 
the  necessity  of  retribution,  but  a  man  must  see  the  justice  of  the 


164  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

penalty  pronounced  or  he  will  seize  the  chance  to  cry,  Unfair!  And 
when  a  man  sees  the  grace  of  God  pay  the  penalty,  believes  and  sub- 
mits to  God,  can  he  not  deny  the  righteousness  of  any  further 
penalty?  The  conscience  and  reason  of  the  natural  man  do  not  lead 
him  at  first  to  paint  hell  in  all  this  detail.  It  is  the  fervid  exhorter 
that  puts  sting  after  sting  in  the  lash,  hoping  to  quicken  penitence,  but 
this  is  sadly  overdone;  it  leaves  the  Divinely  appointed  power  of  the 
Gospel  one  side. 

16.  "We  find  the  Roman  Catholic  'hell'  still  filled  with  the 
tortures  belonging  to  a  barbarous  age;  red-hot  gridirons,  boiling 
cauldrons  of  lead  and  brimstone,  a  pestilential  atmosphere,  and  a 
multitude  of  horned  and  cloven-footed  demons,  who — pursue  the 
damned,  inflicting  upon  them  untold  torments — .  We  have  rejected 
these  monstrous  fables  but  have  preserved  a  word  which  recalls  them 
and  confuses  the  popular  imagination.  It  is  the  word  'hell,'  which  the 
sacred  writers  never  use  in  the  sense  usually  given  it." — Dr.  Ernest 
Petavel. 

17.  Adam,  thy  sin  is  condoned!  Eve,  mother  of  all  living  hu- 
manity,— fill  the  earth  with  children  who  shall  live  a  few  short 
5^ars,  shall  die,  and  go  to  Hell.  Abraham,  your  seed  shall  be  as 
the  sand  of  the  seashore;  Sarah,  why  dost  thou  laugh?  A  vast 
number  of  your  children  shall  "spend  eternity  in  the  flames  of  Hell !" 
With  this  idea  Milton  has  Adam  say  to  Eve: 

"Childless  thou  art,  childless  remain,  so  Death 
Shall  be  deceived  his  glut,  and  with  us  two 
Be  forced  to  satisfy  his  ravenous  maw." 

18.  Damnation  of  infants  was  affirmed  by  the  second  canon  of 
the  Council  of  Carthage. 

19.  Calvin  says,  "Infants?    Yes.    A  decree  horrible,  yet  true." 

20.  Nathaniel  Emmons,  "It  is  absolutely  necessary  to  approve 
the  doctrine  of  reprobation  to  be  saved." 

21.  All  this  to  satisfy  the  worldly  philosopher's  cry,  "Justice! 
Justice!  must  be  vindicated!  liice  the  mob  that  cries  out,  'Lynch 
him!  Lynch  him!'  "  Is  Judge  Lynch  to  sit  on  that  Great  White 
Throne  to  settle  the  destiny  of  others  better  than  he? — Hobab. 

22.  "Is  Heaven  so  high 

That  pity  cannot  breathe  its  air, 

Its  happy  eyes  forever  dry. 

Its  holy  lips  without  a  prayer? 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 65 

"My  God!    My  God!    if  hither  led 
By  thy  free  grace  unmerited, 
No  palm  or  crown  be  mine,  but  let  me  keep 
A  heart  that  still  can  feel,  and  eyes  that  still  can  weep !" 

23.  "It  is  conventional  nonsense  that  Hell's  misery  is  necessary 
to  the  happiness  of  heaven.  Come  out  of  this  mephitic  theology  (a 
noble  word  but  damned),  and  state  the  concrete  case  of  a  mother's 
happiness  dependent  upon  her  child's  misery." — Hobab. 

24.  Charles  Spurgeon  is  one  of  this  order  of  rhetorical  fire- 
worshippers.  What  else  could  have  led  him  to  utter  the  following: 
"Thou  wilt  look  up  there  on  the  throne  of  God,  and  it  shall  be 
written  'Forever!'  When  the  damned  jingle  the  burning  irons  of 
their  torment  they  shall  say,  'Forever!'  Wlien  they  howl,  Echo  cries, 
'Forever'." 

"  'Forever'  is  written  on  their  racks, 
'Forever'  on  their  chains; 
'Forever'  burneth  in  the  fire, 

'Forever'  ever  reigns." — Quoted  by  F.  W .  F. 

25.  Speaking  of  Milton,  Jeremy  Taylor,  Augustine,  Thomas 
Aquinas,  Dante,  etc.,  "great  divines  and  poets  gave  us  but  the  ebul- 
lient flashes  from  the  glowing  caldron  of  a  kindled  imagination.  What 
they  say  is  but,  as  it  were,  the  poetry  of  indignation.  It  is  only  when 
fhey  reek,  like  acrid  fumes  from  the  poisoned  crucible  of  mean  and 
loveless  conceptions,  that  we  see  them  in  all  their  intolerable  ghastli- 
ness." — Farrar. 

26.  He  also  speaks  of  the  "Tartarean  drench"  in  which  "the 
imagination  of  Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor  revels  as  he  pours  it  over  his 
lurid  page."  (Jeremy  Taylor,  Works  VII;  24,  Eden's  Edition.) 
"We  omit  this  'horrible  drench,'  yet  the  works  of  this  eminent  divine 
and  theologian  have  many  beautiful  things  which  may  possibly  make 
it  endurable!"  But  does  the  fountain  from  the  same  cleft  discharge 
both  the  sweet  and  the  bitter?  (Jas.  3:  9-12),  both  the  true  and  the 
false? — Alas!  Yes.  The  challenge  to  humanity  of  this  dispensation 
is,  Prove  all  things,  hold  fast  the  noble,  and  refrain  from  all  forms  of 
spiritual  wickedness  (that  is,  hypocrisy  in  gospel  preaching).  (I 
Thess.  5:  22.) 

27.  So  wrote  Tertullian  centuries  ago — and  I  quote  the  passage 
for  its  ghastly  ingenuity.  (Farrar  would  not  soil  his  page  with  this 
further  than  to  print  it  in  Latin.)     "Have  not  similar  strains  been 


l66  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Uttered  ever  since  by  those  who  maintain  the  popular  doctrine?"  (At 
the  mention  of  Jonathan  Edwards  the  Canon  is  moved  to  soil  his  page 
with  the  English  words.  Here's  the  blot!  "Where  have  they  refused 
to  endorse  the  sentiments  of  his  horribly  revolting  sermon,"  "Sinners 
in  the  hand  of  an  angry  God?"  "The  God  that  holds  you  over  the 
pit  of  hell  much  in  the  same  way  as  one  holds  a  spider,  or  some  loath- 
some insect  over  the  fire." 

28.  Surely  if  you  hold  it,  speak  it  out,  but  if  you  do  not,  then 
repudiate  it.  Even  Shakespeare  says  "Yea"  and  "Nay"  is  poor 
divinity. 

29.  Pictures  of  hell  which  curdle  the  blood  with  horror  and 
thrill  the  soul  with  indignation  are  not  peculiar  to  any  age,  and 
passages  of  Tertullian  and  Minucius  Felix,  or  the  Elucidarium  usually 
printed  with  the  works  of  Anselm,  are  as  frightfully  blasphemous 
against  the  God  of  Love  as  those  in  the  "Contemplation  of  the  State 
of  Man,"  erroneously  ascribed  to  Jeremy  Taylor.  With  these,  in 
charity,  I  will  not  stain  my  page.  (It  is  rather  badly  stained  as  it  is.) 
In  modern  days,  I  give  one  extract  from  Jonathan  Edwards: 

30.  "The  world  will  probably  be  converted  into  a  great  lake 
or  liquid  globe  of  fire,  in  which  the  wicked  will  be  overwhelmed; 
which  shall  always  be  in  tempest,  in  which  they  shall  be  tossed  to  and 
fro,  having  no  rest  day  or  night;  vast  waves  or  billows  of  fire  con- 
tinually rolling  over  their  heads,  of  which  they  shall  ever  be  full  of 
a  quick  sense  within  and  without ;  their  heads,  their  eyes,  their  tongues, 
their  hands,  their  feet,  their  loins,  and  their  vitals  shall  forever  be 
full  of  a  glowing,  melting  fire,  enough  to  melt  the  very  rocks  and 
elements,  and  they  shall  be  full  of  the  most  quick  and  lively  sense  to 
feel  the  torment;  not  for  ten  millions  of  ages,  but  forever  and  ever, 
without  any  end  at  all,"  etc.,  etc. 

31.  Now  do  you  believe  this ?  Do  you  enjoy  it?  Is  Jesus  Christ 
to  be  forever  engaged  in  this  work  of  vengeance?  If  you  do  not  be- 
lieve it,  why  not  challenge  its  claim  to  be  called  theology  ?  Is  it  out  of 
date? — No.  Rev.  R.  A.  Torrey,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  the  Bible  Institute  of 
Los  Angeles,  keeps  it  up.  (See  pamphlet  published  in  1918,  "The 
Exact  Truth  Regarding  an  Eternal  Hell,"  and  the  Rev.  James  M. 
Gray,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  the  Chicago  Bible  Institute,  a  pamphlet  on 
"The  Future  Retribution  of  the  Wicked.") 

32.  At  a  World  Conference  on  Christian  Fundamentals,  June, 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 67 

1920,  Dr.  F.  W.  Farr,  on  "the  penalty  of  sin,"  made  these  points, 
among  others: 

Eternal  death  is  a  positive  retributive  penalty  for  sin,  executed 
personally  by  God  upon  the  body  and  soul  of  the  sinner. 

Men  sin  eternally,  and  they  must  therefore  suffer  eternal  punish- 
ment.   There  can  be  no  repentance  in  Hell. 

Retributive  justice  is  demanded  by  the  moral  LAW.  Justice  is 
imperative.    Justice  prevails  on  the  throne  and  Mercy  can  only  plead. 

The  eternal  punishment  of  the  sinner  tends  to  promote  the  holi- 
ness of  the  holy. 

Finally!  the  power  of  the  pulpit  requires  it! 

Hell  is  a  monument  to  the  love  of  God.  His  prayer  had  this 
petition,  "May  Thy  servants  cling  with  one  hand  to  the  cross,  while 
with  the  other  they  lift  some  drowning  soul  from  the  pit  of  Hell." 

33.  There  are  minds  so  pitched  that  the  horrible  has  a  fright- 
ful fascination,  even  while  they  deprecate  it,  men  and  women  alike. 
**I  shake  off  the  hideous  incubus  of  atrocious  conceptions.  I  mean 
those  conceptions  of  unimaginable  horror  and  physical  excruciation 
endlessly  prolonged,  attached  by  popular  ignorance  and  false  theology 
to  the  doctrine  of  future  retribution.  But  neither  do  I  dogmatize 
on  the  other  side."  Why  not  omit  all  this  indignant  language  and 
calmly  note  that  if  it  is  false  it  will  disappear  in  the  light  of  the  Truth. 
For  a  lie  is  a  negative ;  it  has  no  real  existence ;  even  the  absurd  Chris- 
tian Science  can  see  that. 

34.  "Owing  to  Augustine's  System,  the  entire  Medieval  Church 
held  the  doctrine  of  the  damnation  of  infants  dying  unbaptized." 
"Without  natural  affection"  is  one  count  in  the  degradation  of  the 
truth  of  Natural  Religion.  (Rom.  1:31.)  But  human  nature,  not 
so  utterly  degraded,  has  refused  in  these  modern  years  to  bow  to 
assumed  ecclesiastical  authorities  who  would  continue  this  horror. 
These  authorities  have  lost  much  of  their  power  because,  according  to 
Scripture,  the  world  is  far  gone  toward  the  lawlessness  of  the  end. 
So  much  the  more  need  that  recourse  be  had  to  the  law  and  to  the 
testimony.  Individuals  must  discern  the  truth  for  themselves  and 
not  trust  to  selfish,  interested  intermediaries.  "Friends,  do  not  be- 
lieve every  thinker;  but  test  the  teachings,  whether  they  emanate 
from  God."     (I  John  4:  1-3.) 

35.  A  description  of  Hell  is  a  great  pitfall  for  professional 
talkers,  it  can  be  made  so  thrilling!    This  may  explain  the  tendency 


1 68  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

to  exaggerate  that  almost  invariably  accompanies  this  subject.  "Hell" 
is  held  in  the  creed  accepted  by  thousands  of  preachers  who  have  no 
practical  pulpit  use  for  the  doctrine,  for  they  do  not  mention  it.  It 
is  not  simply  an  academic  question ;  it  relates  to  the  character  of  God. 
It  is  "life"  to  know  God.  Divine  doctrines  are  not  to  be  "held" 
merely.  They  are  to  hold  us.  Does  Hell-fire  grip  your  heart  and  pro- 
duce the  Divine  fruit?  It  cannot  do  so  if  it  is  not  the  Scripture  truth. 
Here  is  a  place  to  exercise  your  spiritual  senses  until  you  have  an 
intelligent,  thoroughly  Biblical  and  heart-moving  view  of  the  Divine 
purpose  in  the  progressive  work  and  ultimate  success  of  His  Son, 
"sent"  to  be  the  Savior  of  the  world. 

36.  Contrast  the  words  of  Jesus,  Stephen,  Moses,  Paul,  in  Luke 
23 :  34,  Acts  7  :  60,  Ex.  32 :  32,  Rom.  9:3,  on  punishment,  with  those 
here  reproduced,  which  are  but  a  sample  only. 

37.  This  is  more  than  enough  of  the  horrors  of  hell,  and  now 
we  will  see  how  the  idea  has  been  mitigated  in  an  apologetic  way  by 
those  who  still  hold  to  future  retribution. 

38.  The  Roman  Church  alleviates  the  doctrine  of  hell  by  teach- 
ing that  there  are  purifying  agencies  which  may  be  used  between  death 
and  judgment,  which  will,  in  addition  to  the  redeeming  work  of 
Christ,  of  sacrament,  and  of  prayers  and  masses,  fit  the  average  man 
for  some  portion,  greater  or  smaller,  in  the  bliss  of  a  sectarian  heaven. 
And  it  is  amazing  how  this  purgatorial  idea  is  taken  up  by  writers  in 
many  different  sects.  As  if  the  birth  from  above,  "not  of  man  or  the 
will  of  man  but  of  God,"  needed  supplementing.  This  purgatorial 
idea  is  prevalent.  In  all  kinds  of  churches  we  hear  exhortation  about 
"fitness  for  heaven."  Augustine  prayed  "for  those  who  have  not 
fallen  utterly  from  grace."  Souls  in  purgatory  may  be  helped  by 
prayer,  and  by  the  "sacrificium  altaris"  for  all  souls!  "for  the  very 
good,  they  are  thanksgivings;  for  the  not  very  bad,  they  are  propitia- 
tions; for  the  very  bad,  even  though  they  are  of  no  avail  for  the  dead, 
they  are  some  consolation  for  the  living." 

39.  "Purgatory  only  for  the  very  small  sins  (Matt.  12:36), 
the  idle  word,  or  immoderate  laughter,"  and  for  those  only  who  have 
deserved  remission  by  their  good  deeds.  Not  even  the  "mitigations" 
of  Augustine  are  left,  for  he  teaches  a  progressive  increase  in  guilt 
and  therefore  in  punishment. — Gregory,  the  Great  (on  Job  8:  8-10). 

40.  "Nay  who  art  thou,  who  on  thy  bench  dost  sit. 

To  judge  with  thy  short  vision  of  a  span, 

The  thousand  miles  of  distance  infinite?" — Dante. 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 69 

41.  Instead  of  going  to  the  authoritative  word,  creed  has  been 
fought  with  creed,  a  rotten  church  has  been  "reformed"  instead  of 
being  repudiated.  The  Reformed  churches,  in  order  to  put  Purgatory 
out  of  the  creed,  ignored  any  condition  intermediate  betw^een  death  and 
the  traditional  judgment  day.  They  made  a  creed  that  has  a  man's 
destiny,  heaven  or  hell,  settled  when  he  dies,  and  a  judgment  then  that 
results  in  salvation  for  the  righteous  and  damnation  for  the  un- 
righteous. 

42.  "I  embraced  in  my  heart  all  that  is  called  man,  past,  present, 
future,  times  and  nations,  the  damned,  even  Satan,  I  (great  big  I) 
presented  them  to  God  (a  small  God)  with  the  warmest  wishes  that 
He  would  have  mercy  upon  all."  This  language  of  unbelief  and 
ignorance  and  self-importance  is  repeated  over  and  over  until  one 
asks  indeed,  "Will  He  find  the  faith  upon  the  earth?" 

43.  A  burial  service  that  says  over  the  dead,  though  ignorant  of 
his  life  and  character,  "as  our  hope  is  that  this,  our  brother,  doth," — 
Pusey  says,  "We  know  not  what  God  may  do  in  one  agony  of  loving 
penitence  for  one  who  accepts  his  last  grace  in  that  almost  sacrament 
of  death."  Dante  makes  one  small  tear  rescue  a  soul  from  "him  of 
Hell  for  Him  of  Heaven,"  We  find  this  whole  subject  saturated 
with  legalism  and  wonder  why  these  theologians,  who  must  know  the 
gospel,  can  systematize  it  and  put  it  on  the  shelf  as  of  no  practical 
value,  as  they  do  in  this  connection. 

44.  "That  it  may  please  Thee  to  have  mercy  upon  all  men,  we 
beseech  Thee  to  hear  us,  good  Lord."  (Aside,  "We  know  you  will 
not  do  it,  but  it  makes  us  feel  good  to  think  we  are  more  merciful 
than  you.") 

45.  Farrar  endorses  the  view  of  Pusey  and  Newman  that  "there 
are  innumerable  degrees  of  grace  and  sanctity  among  the  saved."  He 
asks  also,  "If  the  daily  teaching  of  all  religious  teachers  be  true,  are 
ordinary  men  and  ordinary  boys,  living  the  ordinary  life  of  men  and 
boys,  fit  to  go  straight  to  heaven  ?  And  3'et  will  they  go  straight  hence 
under  the  irrevocable  doom  of  an  endless  hell?"  You  see  if  you  have 
a  weak  Gospel,  you  need  a  purgatory. 

46.  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  (1784)  also  voices  the  legal  idea  that 
some  die  for  whom  heaven  is  too  good  and  hell  too  bad.  And  as  they 
have  not  been  made  meet  by  the  blood  of  Christ,  a  laundry  that  will 
cleanse  from  guilty  stains  is  necessary.    So  Perrone  (1835)  and  New- 


lyo  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

man,  Bishop  Martensen,  Bishop  Forbes  of  Breslin,  "seemingly  ripe 
neither  for  heaven  or  hell." 

47.  "Men  and  women  are  asking  these  questions  and  if  we  of 
the  clergy  [men,  women  and  clergymen?]  tell  them  that  the  words 
of  Scripture  and  the  integral  doctrines  of  Christianity  demand 
the  same  notions  of  moral  retribution  as  were  current  in  the  days 
when  men  racked  criminals,  burned  heretics  alive,  and  believed  that 
every  Mussulman  that  they  slaughtered  in  a  crusade  went  straight  to 
endless  torments,  then  evil  times  will  come,  both  for  the  clergy  and 
the  Christian  religion,  for  many  a  year  henceforth." — Canon  Kingsley. 

48.  Bishop  Moorhouse,  of  Melbourne,  "the  41st  and  42d  Articles 
(of  the  Church  of  England  against  Millennarians  and  Universalism) 
were  withdrawn  because  the  church,  knowing  that  men  like  Justin 
Martyr,  Irenaeus,  and  TertuUian  were  Millennarians,  and  men  like 
Origen,  Clemens  of  Alexandria,  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa  were  Uni- 
versalists,  refused  to  dogmatize  on  such  questions," 

49.  Plumptre  seizes  upon  the  "preaching  to  spirits  in  prison  (I 
Peter  3:  19)  ;  Gospel  preached  to  the  dead  (4:6);  baptized  for  the 
dead  (I  Cor.  15:29)  ;  and  the  common  practice  of  prayers  for  the 
dead;  which  were  not  condemned  at  least,"  to  show  the  possibilities 
of  repentance  and  forgiveness  in  the  intermediate  state.  All  of  which 
is  very  dubious.  See  elsewhere,  II  Tim.  i :  16  and  4:  19.  Onesipho- 
rus  may  have  been  dead  ? 

50.  We  may  ask,  Why  the  descent  into  Hades?  and  how?  Was 
it  in  body  or  spirit  ?  And  when  ?  During  the  three  days  or  after  His 
resurrection  ? 

51.  "The  Bible  has  many  half  and  half  truths,  such  as  Univer- 
salism and  Endless  Punishment;  foreknowledge  and  free-will;  elec- 
tion forfeited  so  that  it  is  impossible  to  renew  the  fallen  to 
repentance,"    also   "half-drawn    to    trust   the   Larger    Hope,"    "He 

ascended  into  Heaven  from  Hades.     Like  Abraham  His  presence 
there  was  a  'taking  possession'." — Plumptre. 

52.  Augustine  makes  this  confession,  "Purge  me  in  this  life,  and 
make  me  such  that  there  may  be  no  further  need  of  the  amending  fire." 

53.  Farrar  quotes  from  the  following  as  conceding  his  position 
of  "Eternal  Hope." 

Clemens,  of  Alexandria,  about  A.  D.  218,  every  knee  bend. 
Eusebius,  of  Gaul,  about  A.  D.  371. 
Ambrose,  about  A.  D.  397. 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  17I 

Augustine,  about  A.  D,  430,  Purgatorial. 

PauHnus  of  Nola,  about  A.  D.  431. 

Methodins,  third  Century. 

Theodoret,  458. 

Sybylline  Books  (Orac.  1131). 

Isidore,  633. 

Johannes  Scotus  Erigena,  883. 

Theophylact,   1071. 

Anselm,  11 09. 

Thomas  Aquinas,  1274. 

Luther,  1546. 

Coeh'us  Secundus  Curio,  Professor  of  Theology  at  Basle,  1569. 

Valentin  Weigel,  Mystic,  1588. 

Suarez,  16 17. 

Simon  Episcopius,  1643. 

Denis  Petan  (Petavius),  1652. 

Bishop  Jeremy  Taylor,  1667. 

Dr.  Henry  More,  1688. 

54.  "They  may  judge  if  this  please  them,  that  the  pains  of  the 
damned  are  at  certain  intervals  of  time  in  some  measure  mitigated." — 
"Holidays  in  Hell?" — Augustine. 

55.  This  is  exemplified  by  having  Judas,  whom  these  judges 
have  decided  is  bad  enough  for  hell-fire,  allowed  once  a  year  to  go  out 
and  sit  on  an  iceberg.  If  all  this  kind  of  rot  does  not  at  once  show  to 
you  the  unscriptural  tone  of  a  fleshly  mind,  then  your  spiritual  senses 
are  drugged.     (Heb.  5:  14.) 

56.  The  Legend  of  St.  Brendan.  On  an  iceberg  one  day  Brendan 
discovered  a  miserable  figure  and  recognized  the  "traitor  Judas  out 
of  hell,"  who  cries: 

"One  moment!     Wait!     Thou  holy  man! 

On  earth  my  crime, — my  death, — they  knew; 

My  name  is  under  all  men's  ban; 

Be  told  then  of  my  respite  too:" 
Because  of  one  good  deed,  the  gift  of  a  cloak  to  a  poor  leper  at 
Joppa, 

"Once  every  year  when  carols  wake 

On  earth  the  Christian's  night's  repose, 

Arising  from  the  sinner's  lake, 

I  journey  to  these  healing  snows." 

57.  The  poet  Habingdon  allows  Judas  this  alleviation. 


172  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

58.  "The  bright  side  of  hell"  (F.  W.  Faber). 

59.  The  Bishop  of  Belley  describes  the  damned  as  joining  in 
unanimous  hymns  in  honor  of  that  mercy  in  consequence  of  which 
they  are  not  consumed. 

60.  Bickersteth  represents  "hell"  as  almost  a  holy,  and  there- 
fore a  happy,  place.    So  Ambrose. 

61.  Matt.  12:32,  Some  sins  therefore  are  remitted  in  "the  eon 
to  come." 

62.  Here  is  a  speculation  by  Robert  Anderson  on  the  general 
line  of  "How  to  be  Happy  in  Hell:"  "In  God's  great  prison-house 
is  idleness  to  reign  supreme?  The  treadmill,  which  in  former  times 
served  only  to  grind  the  air,  is  in  our  day  used  for  good  and  useful 
purposes;  are  we  to  suppose  that  all  the  energies  of  the  lost  are  to  be 
consumed  in  tasks  of  aimless  punishment?  [Efficiency!  is  the  fashion 
today.]  God  has  told  us  of  their  punishment,  for  that  is  all  that  con- 
cerns us  to  know,  but  nowhere  has  He  said  that  it  is  for  punishment 
alone  they  shall  exist.  If  throughout  creation  every  creature  seems 
to  have  its  mission,  why  should  we  assume  it  will  be  otherwise  in 
hell?  It  were  but  folly  to  press  this  speculation  any  further.  But, 
there  is  no  spot  in  all  the  Queen's  dominions  in  which  the  reign  of 
order  is  so  supreme  as  in  a  prison.  So  shall  it  be  in  hell.  ...  It  may 
be  that  the  recognition  of  the  perfect  justice  and  goodness  of  God  will 
lead  the  lost  to  accept  their  doom.  Possibly,  too,  the  poet's  dream 
may  yet  be  realized,  that  Divine  love  shall  shine  out  so  clearly  even 
amid  the  fires  of  judgment  that  when  the  anthem  rises  in  the  palace- 
home  of  God,  even  the  prison-house  shall  join  in  the  refrain,  and 
praise  shall  issue  forth  from  hell.  Speculations  such  as  these  are  per- 
fectly legitimate  in  poetry,  but  they  should  have  no  place  in  the  sober 
prose  of  theology."  It  is  said  that  a  lie  is  at  the  bottom  of  a  joke, 
and  it  here  seems  that  something  funny  can  be  said  on  this  most  grue- 
some subject.  "It  is  but  a  step  —  ."  The  incongruity  will  at  least 
justify  a  smile.    Perhaps  the  angels  laugh  out  loud. 

63.  Farrar's  eloquent  efforts  for  a  "wider  hope"  result  only  in 
the  reduction  of  eternally  lost  sinners  to  "a  small  but  desperate  minor- 
ity." Whereupon  Anderson  retorts,  "If  indeed  there  be  hope  beyond 
the  grave.  Divine  love  will  most  surely  reach  forth  for  the  very  class 
He  has  singled  out  as  possible  victims  of  the  most  hopeless  doom.  The 
wretched  offspring  of  depraved  and  vicious  parents,  this  world  has 
been  no  better  than  a  hell  to  them  from  cradled  infancy.    If  there  be 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIOXS  173 

after  mercy  for  the  pampered  sinners  of  the  synagogue,  shall  it  be 
denied  to  these  poor  outcasts  of  humanity?"  And  both  parties  seem 
to  wander  in  the  twilight. 

64.  Jeremy  Taylor  wavers,  and  after  these  ebullient  flashes  of 
systematic  Hellology,  is  constrained  to  this  modification,  "Though  the 
fire  is  everlasting,  not  all  that  enters  it  is  everlasting,"  and  also,  which 
is  more  important,  he  says  that  "the  word  everlasting  signifies  only 
to  the  end  of  its  proper  period." — Jeremy  Taylor  s  Works,  VIII,  p.  43. 

65.  Dante  believed  in  that  "willing  agony"  of  Purgatory,  into 
which  poor  souls  might  gladly  plunge,  assured  that  at  last,  redeemed 
and  purified,  they  too  should  pass  into  their  paradisal  rest. 

66.  "All  that  can  be  positively  asserted  to  be  matter  of  mere 
revelation  with  regard  to  this  doctrine  (Purgatory),  seems  to  be  that 
the  great  distinction  between  the  righteous  and  the  wicked  shall  be 
made  (not,  be  it  observed,  at  death,  but)  at  the  end  of  this  world ;  that 
each  shall  then  receive  according  to  his  deserts."  (Butler,  Analog}' 
I,  2,  note.)  And  the  Bishop  leaves  us  with  this  indefinite  phrase.  Did 
he  know  that  "the  end  of  this  eon  (not  world)  was  the  beginning  of 
the  Millennial  Eon?" 

67.  F.  D.  Maurice  was  indicted  by  Dr.  Jelf  and  dismissed  from 
his  professorial  chair,  but  not  from  his  office  and  ministr}'  as  a  preacher, 
on  the  charges:  (ist)  That  he  maintained  that  our  Lord  had  ex- 
cluded the  "notion  of  duration"  from  the  word  "eternal."  (2d)  That 
the  limit  of  man's  life  does  not  limit  the  compassion  of  the  Father  of 
Spirits.  (3d)  That  we  want  that  clear,  broad  assertion  of  the  Divine 
charity,  which  the  Bible  makes,  and  which  carries  us  immeasurably 
beyond  all  that  we  can  ask  or  think.  In  which  Jelf  saw  a  denial  of 
the  eternity  of  future  punishment,  or,  at  least,  "a  doubt  cast  upon  the 
simple  meaning  of  the  word  eternal,  and  a  general  notion  of  ultimate 
salvation  for  all." 

68.  Our  feelings  may  be  wrought  up  by  the  linguistic  literature 
which  revels  in  diabolical  exaggerations  of  the  horrible,  under  the 
cover  that  thus  only  can  the  mind  be  convicted  of  the  sinfulness  of 
sin ;  but  let  us,  as  we  may,  assuage  these  feelings  by  the  thought  that 
those  who  write  such  things  are  led  on  by  the  self-hypnotism  of  com- 
position (cacoethes  scribendi),  or  argumentative  partizanship  to  say 
what  they  may  hold  academically,  but  which  does  not  hold  them  in 
blessed  obedience  of  faith. 

69.  That  some  of  God's  rational  and  self-determined  creatures 


174  CHRIST  VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

will  forever  be  in  deadly  enmity  to  Him,  cannot  be  thought  of  without 
sorrow  and  awe.    It  is  a  possibility. — Shedd. 

70.  What  can  be  said  on  universal  reconciliation  as  a  motive? 
Men  do  not  naturally  believe  it  at  first,  but  when  they  so  perceive  it, 
there  is  no  stronger  notion,  for  it  is  based  on  the  exceeding  riches  of 
grace. 

71.  Happily  the  thoughts  and  hearts  of  men  are  often  far  gentler 
than  the  formulae  of  their  creeds;  and  custom  and  tradition  prevent 
even  the  greatest  from  facing  the  full  meaning  and  consequences 
of  the  words  they  use. — Farrar. 

72.  Few  would  confess  that  they  did  not  wish  that  all  might  be 
saved,  as  it  is  God's  will.  (I  Tim.  2 :  4.)  The  English  church  prays 
"that  it  may  please  Thee  to  have  mercy  upon  all  men."  We  pray 
for  this.     (Not  believing  that  the  request  will  be  granted.) 

73.  "Father,  forgive  them,  they  know  not  what  they  do."  Test 
your  faith  now.  Was  this  prayer  granted  in  full,  partially,  or  not  at 
all,  and  will  some  of  these  Jerusalem  sinners  find  endless  punishment 
for  sin?  It  is  easy  to  believe  that  they  were  forgiven  for  crucifying, 
but  not  for  unbelief. 

74.  Playfere,  "If  to  have  raised  out  of  the  womb  of  faultless 
and  unoffending  nothing  infinite  myriads  of  men  into  a  condition  from 
which,  unthinking,  they  should  unavoidably  drop  into  eternal  unutter- 
able sorrows,  be  consistent  with  goodness,  contradictions  may  be  true, 
and  all  rational  deductions  but  a  dream."  Better,  All  things  are  out 
of  God  (not  from  "nothing")  and  through  God,  and  unto  God  (Rom. 
II :  36).     {Not  into  punishment.) 

75.  Dean  Gray  writes,  "Is  Jesus  Christ  a  trifler?  Is  He  ca- 
pable of  such  awful  utterances, — Hell,  torment,  anguish,  flame, — well 
knowing  that  there  is  neither  reality  nor  truth  behind  them? — a  sense 
of  pain,  a  sense  of  loss,  a  sense  of  memory.  It  is  eternal  because, 
"between  us  and  you  there  is  a  great  gulf  fixed."  "These  shall  go 
away  into  everlasting  (eonian)  punishment," — the  punishment  is 
eternal.  "It  almost  paralyzes  the  hand  to  write  it  or  makes  the  tongue 
cleave  to  the  roof  of  the  mouth  to  speak  it.  But  there  seems  no 
escape."  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  Doctor  shrinks  from  his 
thought  as  he  certainly  need  not  if  it  is  true.  He  says  elsewhere,  "The 
doctrine  is  so  disagreeable  to  think  about — it  is  hard  to  preach  it  with 
tenderness, — it  is  stoutly  resented  by  human  nature, — many  who  hold 
it  do  not  preach  it  because  they  discount  its  value  as  a  motive."     (But 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  I  75 

see  Gray's  inconsistent  appeal  to  natural  pagan  religions,  all  of  which 
have  it  in  creed  and  testimony. ) 

76.  How  hard  it  is  for  the  exhorter  to  pronounce  the  word  "hell" 
without  an  emphasis  that  suggests  an  artistic  oratorical  relish  ? 

77.  "Men  who,  having  got  easy  ways  of  assuring  themselves  it 
shall  not  be  their  portion,  do  as  little  pity  those  calamitous  souls 
whose  lot  it  may  be,  as,  they  darkly  fancy,  God  Himself  does." — 
Bishop  Rust. 

78.  Anderson  "admits"  that  "the  New  Testament  unfolds  an 
'economy  of  times  and  seasons,'  many  ages  heading  up  in  one  great 
'age,'  within  which  all  the  manifold  purposes  of  God  in  relation  to 
earth  shall  be  fulfilled.  Here  these  words  (eon,  age)  are  applicable 
and  are  used."  This,  while  in  the  right  line,  is  misleading  by  its  in- 
definiteness.  Not  many  ages,  but  five;  not  only  earth,  but  the  universe 
(see  diagram).  "The  eonian"  scholarship  of  Christendom  has  recog- 
nized that  they  are  used  to  express  eternity  in  its  fullest  sense.  That 
is,  "eon"  means  "age,"  a  limited  portion  of  time,  but  finite  scholarship, 
having  a  comprehension  of  eternity  in  its  fullest  infinite  sense,  has 
decided  that  this  limited  "e-o-n"  shall  be  saddled  with  an  unlimited 
sense,  in  spite  of  the  fact  that  there  is  no  text  of  all  the  652  but  what 
gives  a  clear  and  harmonious  revelation  without  it.  Concerning 
"eonian,"  which  could  not  be  used  to  express  infinite  duration  be- 
cause applied  to  what  was  material  or  transitory,  Anderson  says, 
"What  is  true  of  most  words  is  true  in  a  special  degree  of  these; 
chameleon  like,  they  take  a  color  from  what  they  touch,  and  their 
significance  must  in  every  case  be  settled  by  the  subject  matter  and 
the  context," — which  should  be  taken  with  a  grain  of  salt. 

79.  William  H.  Newell  voices  a  common  definition  of  eonian: 
"WTien  it  occurs  in  connection  with  anything  that  is  in  its  nature 
limited,  it  has  a  limited  meaning,  and  when  it  occurs  with  anything 
that  is  unlimited  in  its  nature,  it  has  an  unlimited  meaning."  This 
is  easily  tested.  "Eonian  God;"  the  argument  makes  Eonian  un- 
limited because  God  is  unlimited.  Now  in  "Lord  of  the  Sabbath," 
does  "sabbath"  limit  the  Lord?  or  does  the  "Lord"  make  the  Sabbath 
unlimited?  "God  manifest  in  flesh;"  does  it  make  flesh  unlimited  or 
speak  of  this  humiliation  of  the  Son  as  permanent,  with  no  return  to 
His  own  proper  glory? 

80.  There  are  these  continually  recurring  expressions,  "final  char- 
acter," "final  destiny,"  "finally  impenitent."     Where  does  it  come 

12 


176  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

from?  What  does  it  mean?  Does  this  finality  come  at  the  end  of 
eternity?  Final  destiny?  Final  character?  Final  choice,  after 
which  free-will  is  paralyzed.  Did  Saul  of  Tarsus  repent  and  choose, 
or  did  his  free-will  follow  knowledge?  All  the  dead  who  stand  before 
the  Great  White  Throne  are  there  more  ignorant  than  Saul.  Was 
the  issue  in  Saul's  case  sin?  It  could  not  have  been  final  impenitent 
rejection  of  God.  Why,  when  the  Jews  receive  the  Son  of  David, 
they  will  be  saved.  "Forever"  and  ever  (and  ever,  ad  infinitum) . 
If  forever  is  endless,  what  does  "endless  and  beyond"  mean?  How 
can  there  be  something  beyond  endlessness?  And  what  is  "an  abso- 
lutely endless  eternity?"  God's  word  does  not  tolerate  ambiguous 
expressions  like  this,  nor  does  the  free  mind  of  man  feel  tolerant  of 
dogmatic  assertions  which  have  this  appendix,  "Beyond  this  I  know 
nothing  and  there  is  nothing  to  be  known."  If  we  are  to  learn  from 
God,  there  must  be  a  reception  room  where  new  truths  can  be  en- 
tertained. Here  is  the  condemnation  of  sectarian  limitation  in  the 
form  of  creed ;  all  outside  the  fence  is  heretical,  whether  true  or  false. 

81.  Dr.  White,  a  chaplain  (1712):  "As  sin  and  death  were 
not  brought  in  at  first,  so  it  is  certain  that  they  shall  not  be  the  end; 
for  grace  is  the  beginning  of  all,  and  the  end  must  be  grace  also! 
There  are  some  who  hold  this  incongruous  idea  that  what  God  begun 
in  grace  he  ends  with  wrath.  Having  begun  to  build,  was  He  not  able 
to  finish?  Rather  He  that  having  counted  the  cost,  the  Originator 
of  a  good  work  in  you,  will  perfect  it  until  the  day  of  Christ  Jesus. 
(Phil.  1:6.)  Note  the  absence  of  the  sempiternity  that  finite  minds 
would  swell  up  with.  The  day  of  Christ  Jesus  is  the  Omega,  the  end 
of  his  eonian  work. 

82.  Bishop  Butler  says  (1752),  "Virtue  is  militant  here,  but  it 
may  combat  with  greater  advantage  hereafter." 

83.  Theodoret,  the  Blessed  (458),  "For  the  Lord,  who  loves 
man,  punishes  medicinally  that  he  may  check  the  course  of  impiety." 
(Hom.,  Ezek.  6:6.) 

84.  Scotus,  "Absurd  to  think  that  Christ  saved  only  a  fraction 
of  mankind."  (V.  27.)  His  fifth  book  is  a  profound  argument  for 
the  universal  restoration  of  mankind. 

85.  Anselm,  "God  demands  from  no  sinner  more  than  he  owes; 
but  since  no  one  can  pay  as  much  as  he  owes,  Christ  alone  paid  for 
all  more  than  the  debt  due!" 

86.  Why  does  God  represent  His  love.  His  grace.  His  mercy, 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 77 

with  such  abundant  expression  if  He  did  not  expect  man  to  count 
upon  it,  and  not  for  self  alone? 

87.  Dean  Gray  is  asked,  "How  harmonize  the  endless  misery 
with  the  character  of  God?"  "First,"  he  says,  "it  is  not  our  business 
to  do  so.  How  do  we  know  God's  character  except  from  the  Bible? 
If  the  Bible  tells  us  that  God  is  Love  and  that  He  will  thus  punish  the 
wicked,  what  further  harmonizing  is  necessary?"  Second  (question 
for  question),  "How  can  you  harmonize  love  and  evil?"  Third  (and 
here  is  his  answer),  "God's  love  includes  (  ?)  justice,  and  justice  in  its 
very  nature  demands  the  punishment  of  sin."  But  in  another  place 
he  says,  "Christ's  death  paid  the  penalty  of  the  broken  law."  Yes, 
truly  the  transgression  of  the  law  is  sin ;  the  penalty  is  death. .  Christ 
paid  it.  Where  is  the  justice  of  demanding  eternal  torment  as  an 
additional  penalty?  Some  dodge  this  simple  conclusion  one  way  and 
some  another.  Here  is  the  Dean's  way.  Answering  the  question, 
"What  is  the  unpardonable  sin?"  he  cites  Matt.  12:  31,  32;  Heb. 
6:4-6;  I  John  5 :  16;  "no  matter  what  else  it  consists  in,  it  certainly 
does  in  this,  viz. :  The  man  who  dies  unsaved  notwithstanding  Christ 
has  been  offered  to  him  as  a  Savior,  commits  the  unpardonable  sin. 
There  is  no  forgiveness  or  salvation  for  him  in  the  world  to  come." 

88.  "This  is  life  that  we  may  know  God,"  may  have  a  knowl- 
edge of  His  character.  Now,  if  Christ  adjudges  men  to  endless  tor- 
ment for  sin,  this  should  reveal  His  character.  H  Christ,  to  whom 
all  judgment  is  committed,  annihilates  the  wicked,  this  reveals  a  God 
of  another  character.  And  if  the  Son  "sent  forth"  fulfils  his  mission 
in  a  reconciled  universe,  then  we  have  God  of  another  character.  God 
is  known  by  the  judgment  He  executes.  Once  again,  does  not  the 
judgment  at  Calvary  negative  all  additional  demand  for  penalty?  Is 
not  justice  fully  satisfied  there?  And  it  is  a  very  pertinent  question 
to  ask,  How  can  God's  love  harmonize  with  endless  law,  sin,  death, 
and  torment?  It  is  the  false  translation,  biased  by  a  false  church,  and 
preconceived  ideas,  that  introduces  discord  between  God's  character 
and  His  dealing  with  His  ignorant  and  unbelieving  creatures.  "They 
shall  all  be  taught  of  God."  Wait  until  school  is  out  before  you  talk 
of  insoluble  discords.  You  will  see,  however,  in  the  Dean's  answers, 
that  the  unpardonable  sin  is  the  last  line  of  defense  of  endless  torment 
as  penalty.  And  it  is  also  based  on  a  great  big  "if."  It  is  not  only 
assumed,  it  is  dogmatically  asserted,  that  some  will  reject  Christ  after 


178  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

they  have  known  Him,  "Whom  to  know  is  life,"    There  is  no  Divine 
authority  for  this. 

89.  From  TertuUian  down,  trite  rhetoric  has  repeatedly  talked 
of  the  impossibility  of  the  supposition  that  there  will  be  no  difference 
between  a  John  and  a  Judas,  a  Jezebel  and  a  Virgin  Mary.  It  only 
shows  that  it  is  impossible  for  the  natural  man  to  repudiate  law  and 
believe  in  the  grace  of  this  dispensation. 

90.  Anderson  complains  of  Cox's  "Salvator  Mundi ;"  "Of  the 
vital  and  characteristic  truths  of  our  religion  there  is  not  so  much  as 
one  which  it  does  not  ignore  or  deny.  The  righteousness  of  God,  the 
Grace  of  God,  man's  ruin,  redemption  through  the  blood  of  Christ, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  justification  of  the  believer  by  grace  through 
redemption,  eternal  (eonian)  life  as  the  free  gift  of  God."  But,  also, 
as  you  look  through  the  argument  for  endless  torment  for  sin,  you 
will  find  nothing  whatever  but  the  law  as  seen  from  the  viewpoint 
of  Natural  Religion,  and  not  the  ignoring  of  redemption  only,  but 
the  dental  of  its  value.  On  all  sides  it  is  a  forensic  discussion  of 
penalty  for  sin,  regardless  of  its  harmonious  relation  to  the  whole 
revelation  of  God.  What  with  the  handicaps  of  sect  loyalty,  of  a 
limited  program,  of  systematic  theology,  of  Natural  Religion,  and 
pagan  philosophy,  and  zest  of  polemics,  zeal  for  God  without  knowl- 
edge, it  is  only  the  vital  nature  of  the  Truth,  whatever  it  is,  that  the 
subject  continues  to  be  interesting  to  human  beings.  Eliminate  the 
chaff  from  your  own  theological  output. 

91.  Beliefs,  both  true  and  erroneous,  sanctioned  by  Church  and 
State,  have  been  challenged  from  Babel  to  Berlin.  The  truth  has 
been  perverted,  the  lie  has  been  exposed.  Nimrod  was  followed  by 
Pharaoh,  Korah,  Dathan  and  Abiram,  Rab-Shakeh,  and  the  Beast; 
Abraham,  by  John  the  Baptist,  Stephen,  and  many  a  martyr.  Julian 
challenged  Christianity,  and  Protestantism  challenged  Rome.  Dis- 
senters challenge  Anglicanism,  and  the  spiritual  church  challenges  the 
carnal  institutions.  The  flesh  lusteth  against  the  spirit  and  the  spirit 
against  the  flesh.  In  these  conflicts  there  must  come  a  crisis,  after 
which  one  will  possess  the  field  to  the  exclusion  of  the  other.  Does 
not  the  wholly  legal  sphere  in  which  the  argument  for  endless  punish- 
ment moves,  veil  the  glory  of  Paul's  ministry  of  grace?  And  yet  the 
complaint  is  made  that  Farrar,  Cox  and  Plumptre  make  no  reference 
to  gospel  doctrines.  Both  parties  seem  to  ignore  fundamental  truths 
when  they  make  "retribution"  the  keyword. 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  179 

92.  "Lord  both  of  the  dead  and  living."  "For  Life  is  ever  Lord 
of  Death,  and  love  can  never  lose  its  own." 

93.  "The  Bible  teaches  that  there  will  always  be  some  sin,  some 
death  in  the  Universe,"  so  says  the  Professor  of  Systematic  Theolog>-. 

94.  Dr.  Shedd  writes,  "Those  who  believe  that  there  is  a  hell, 
and  intelligently  fear  it,  will  escape  it ;  and  those  who  deny  that  there 
is  a  hell  and  ridicule  it,  will  fall  into  it."  This  is  systematic  theolog}'. 
The  next  statem.ent  is,  "The  dogmatic  bearings  of  Universalism  are 
not  to  be  overlooked.  The  rejection  of  the  doctrine  of  endless  punish- 
ment cuts  the  ground  from  under  the  gospel.  It  blots  out  the  attribute 
(?)  of  retributive  justice.  The  attempt  to  retain  the  evangelical 
theologv'  (systematic?)  in  connection  with  it  is  futile."  Later  in  his 
book  the  Doctor  gives  us  a  better  gospel  than  "fear  hell  and  you  will 
escape  it."  But  here  he  goes  on,  "If  there  were  no  such  thing  as  end- 
less punishment,  havoc  would  be  made  of  all  the  liturgies  of  the 
church,  as  well  as  of  its  literature."  "Take  out  the  doctrine  of 
eternal  perdition  and  the  antithetic  doctrine  of  salvation,  and  what  is 
left?"  There  is  nothing  left  but  God  and  His  love,  Christ  and  His 
gracious  work,  and  the  Bible.  If  the  Church  were  gone,  that  would 
be  one  enemy  of  the  Bible  the  less.  (See  Robert  Anderson's  "Bible  or 
the  Church.")  A  present  purgatory  for  organized  Christendom  would 
be  a  busy  institution. 

95.  Anderson  takes  as  admitted  the  false  position  of  Christen- 
dom "that  the  many  die  unsaved,  and  that  these  shall  be  raised  from 
the  dead,  and  shall  stand  before  God  in  judgment,  and  be  remitted 
(where  to?)  to  punishment  for  their  sins.  The  question  here  is  not  of 
what  may  be  called  the  providential  consequences  of  sin,  the  results 
which  in  God's  moral  government  follow  the  violation  of  his  laws. 
Neither  is  it  a  question  of  corrective  discipline  to  purge  and  train  the 
penitent.  There  is  no  need  of  a  Day  of  Judgment  to  apportion  pun- 
ishment in  either  of  these  senses ;  the  one  follows  the  sin  by  unchanging 
law;  the  other  belongs  entirely  to  the  Father's  house.  The  final 
punishment  of  the  lost  will  be  the  consequence  of  a  judicial  sentence. 
Such  punishment,  therefore,  must  be  the  penalty  due  to  their  sins; 
else  it  were  unrighteous  to  impose  it.  If  then  the  lost  are  ultimately 
to  be  saved,  it  must  be  either  because  they  shall  have  satisfied  the 
penalty;  or  else  through  redemption  Christ  has  borne  the  penalty  for 
them."  On  the  next  leaf,  Anderson  says,  "The  advocates  of  the 
larger  hope  seem  to  ignore  the  penal  element." 


l8o  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

96.  Consider  this  strange  inconsistency  in  a  writer  who  has  given 
us  clear  Scripture  doctrine  expressed  in  clear  language  in  his  book, 
"The  Gospel  and  Its  Ministry."  "But  where,"  he  says,  "does  Scrip- 
ture teach  that  everlasting  torment  is  the  penalty  for  sin?  DEATH 
is  the  penalty  of  sin."  (This  is  clear  and  Scriptural,  but  what  shall  we 
say  of  what  immediately  follows?)  "Instead  of  absolute  equality, 
Scripture  indicates  an  infinite  inequality  of  punishment!"  He  recog- 
nizes penalty  and  punishment  as  synonymous,  but  this  is  the  way  he 
proceeds:  "There  will  be  the  'few  stripes'  and  the  'many  stripes'." 
"God  will  render  to  each  one  according  to  his  deeds.  Surely  the  dis- 
tinction is  obvious  and  simple  between  the  general  penalty  of  sin, 
which  depends  on  the  essential  character  of  a  God  who  cannot  tolerate 
evil  in  His  presence,  and  the  special  kind  and  measure  of  punishment 
which  the  Righteous  Judge  will  impose  on  each,  according  to  the 
degree  and  nature  of  his  guilt."  This  may  be  "obvious  and  simple" 
to  a  lawyer,  but  for  the  common  people  it  needs  elucidation.  "General 
penalty"  and  "special  penalty,"  and  then  he  admits  (pp.  52,  154), 
"Sin's  penalty  has  indeed  been  borne  by  Christ."  Yes,  here  is  his  way 
out,  and  many  walk  in  it.  "But  the  sufferings  of  the  sin-bearer  did 
not  include  the  rejection  of  the  atonement."  There  is  more  than  one 
objection  to  this  and  the  analogous  statement  that  "the  unpardonable 
sin  is  unbelief." 

97.  They  go  back  to  Judaism  for  confirmation  and  hail  such 
language  as  this,  "A  man's  advocates  {paracletes)  are  repentance  and 
good  works.  And  if  999  plead  against  him,  and  only  one  for  him,  he 
is  spared,  as  it  is  said  (Job  33:23).  If  there  be  an  interceding 
angel,  one  among  a  thousand  to  declare  for  man  his  uprightness,  then 
He  is  gracious  unto  him,  and  saith,  Deliver  him  from  going  down  to 
the  pit." — Rabbis  Albo  and  Saadjah. 

98.  "Finally  impenitent,"  "ultimate  destiny,"  "endless  punish- 
ment"— These  expressions  show  the  mind  of  man  has  no  idea  of  what 
he  means  by  eternity  as  he  defines  it.  For,  if  eternity  is  what  they 
say  it  is,  nothing  can  be  "final,"  no  destiny  can  be  "ultimate"  and  a 
punishment  that  has  no  end  leaves  justice  endlessly  unsatisfied.  It  is 
only  the  trained  masters  of  words  that  do  not  fall  into  these  incon- 
sistencies. 

99.  Origen  taught  the  perpetual  freedom  of  the  will,  and  there- 
fore no  limit  to  the  possibility  of  repentance  and  restoration.  Why 
not?    If  a  man's  sins  merit  endless  penalty?  on  what  righteous  basis 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  l8l 

can  any  one  sinner  be  saved  that  does  not  obtain  endlessly?  Is  free- 
will, self-determination  or  whatever  you  call  it,  taken  away  after  one 
has  passed  a  certain  point?  And  what  is  that  point?  God  is  not  will- 
ing that  any  should  perish ;  does  He  become  willing  just  because  a  man 
dies?  Men,  from  Plato  to  Pastor  Russell,  have  thought  of  every  con- 
ceivable thing  on  this  subject.  If  any  new  light  comes,  "it  must  be 
from  the  Bible." 

ICO.  Gregory,  of  Nyassa,  "When  there  shall  no  longer  be  a 
sinner  in  the  Universe" — "the  war  between  good  and  evil  shall  end." 
"Shall  the  leader  of  the  good  leave  the  field  with  a  large  number  of 
evil  things  unconquered  ?"  "The  nature  of  evil  shall  pass  into  nothing- 
ness, and  the  divine  and  unmingled  goodness  shall  embrace  all  in- 
telligent existences." 

101.  Anderson  gives  us  the  following,  "Every  sinner  at  the  great 
assize  shall  hear  his  indictment,  and  be  heard  in  his  defense.  How  long 
time,  then,  shall  be  allowed  to  each?  Suppose  less  than  one-quarter  of 
an  hour.  Assume  a  continuous  session  till  all  have  been  heard.  It 
will  take  One  Hundred  Thousand  jears  for  the  living  of  each  century. 
Multiply  this  by  sixty  for  the  past  and  estimate  the  future,  and  it 
might  take  ten  to  twelve  million  years.  That  some  fallacy  underlies 
the  problem  the  very  statement  of  it  proves;  but  wherein  that  fallacy 
consists  we  cannot  tell,"  (Pardon,  gentle  reader,  this  waste  of  clean 
white  paper,  but  is  your  own  page  quite  clean?) 

102.  The  shame  of  unnecessary  ignorance  should  be  theirs  who 
in  zeal  for  the  truth  of  reconciliation  would  make  souls  fit  by  pains 
and  penalties,  torments,  remorse,  or  any  evil  condition.  It  is  all  of 
God  who  in  His  Love  and  Power  and  Wisdom  says,  Grace  reigns  in 
a  gospel  apart  from  law,  sin,  and  death.  It  is  a  resurrection  gospel 
where  all  evil  has  passed  away,  and  where  all  are  alive  in  Christ,  that 
makes  the  creature  meet  to  be  partaker  of  the  inheritance  in  Light. 

103.  As  to  "Hell,  Damnation,  Everlasting,  in  the  notion  which 
all  uneducated  persons  attach  to  them ;  substitute  for  these  three  words 
the  true  translations,  and  I  ask  you,  my  brethren,  where  would  be 
these  popular  teachings  about  hell,  the  kind  quoted  and  described?"  to 
"damn"  is  to  condemn ;  "eonian"  is  age  long. — Farrar. 

104.  "The  immortality  of  the  soul."  Modern  Bereans  would 
do  well  to  come  to  a  definite  Scripture  view  of  immortality.  The 
centuries  have  failed  to  bring  about  unity  of  belief  in  this  matter.  The 
exact  truth  is  to  be  gathered  from  Divine  revelation  alone,  and  diver- 


1 82  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

sity  of  opinion  is  the  result  of  human  limitations  which  make  man's 
thoughts  differ  from  God's  thoughts.  Dr.  Beet  says,  "The  doctrine 
almost  universally  accepted  is  alien  to  the  Bible  in  both  phrase  and 
thought,  and  is  derived  only  from  Greek  philosophy."  The  Bible 
Institute  of  Los  Angeles  publishes  this  statement,  "We  hold  .  .  .  the 
common  creed  of  Evangelical  Christendom  and  including  .  .  . 
"Immortality  of  the  soul"  as  one  of  fourteen  doctrines  specially 
mentioned. 

105.  True,  a  believer  might  confess  in  the  words  of  this  Platonian 
idea,  with  a  mental  reservation  that  makes  it  mean  "in  Christ  the  risen 
Head  of  the  New  Creation,"  but  the  philosophical  phrase  is  seldom 
thus  modified.  As  Plato  reasoned,  and  as  Addison  has  his  Cato,  con- 
templating suicide,  say,  "Plato,  thou  reasonest  well,  it  must  be  so," 
immortality  was  a  conclusion  reached  apart  from  Christ;  it  was  in- 
herent in  the  descendants  of  Adam.  If  this  dictum  of  Plato  and  Dr. 
Torrey  is  Scriptural,  it  must  be  clearly  shown  to  be  so;  it  is  too  im- 
portant to  be  accepted  as  "assumed"  or  "implied"  Divine  authority 
is  what  the  believer  must  have  for  his  belief.  The  Platonian  argument 
is  just  as  valid  for  pre-existence  of  the  soul  as  it  is  for  its  post-exis- 
tence. Socrates  says  to  Plato,  "Your  favorite  doctrine  that  knowledge 
is  simply  recollection  implies  a  previous  time  in  which  we  have  learnt 
that  which  we  now  recollect,  hence  our  soul  must  have  been  in  some 
place  before  existing  in  the  human  form."  This  human  argument, 
then,  is  invalidated  by  the  limitations  of  the  human  intellect.  We 
must  learn  from  God,  but  that  requires  faith.  "He  that  cometh  to 
God  must  believe  that  He  is  and  that  He  is  the  rewarder  of  them  that 
diligently  seek  Him." 

106.  Christendom  has  appropriated  the  gem  of  these  Greek 
philosophers,  but  has  ignored  the  setting.  There  may  be  some  who 
would  follow  Socrates  when  he  continues,  "The  soul  which"  has 
learned  the  lessons  of  philosophy  goes  at  death  to  the  divine  and  im- 
mortal and  rational,  and  dwells  in  peace;  the  sensual  are  dragged 
down  into  gloom  until  they  are  imprisoned  in  another  body  appro- 
priate to  their  former  lives.  Gluttons,  wantons,  drunkards, — will 
probably  pass  into  asses  and  beasts  of  that  sort.  The  unjust,  the 
tyrant,  and  the  violent  will  pass  into  wolves  or  hawks  or  kites."  "The 
true  philosopher  has  no  need  to  fear  that  at  death  his  soul  shall  cease 
to  be."  For  these  philosophies  Plato  and  Socrates  and  Aristotle  are 
still  held  in  high  honor.     Christendom  may  take  this  in  and  add  to 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 83 

it  the  resurrection  of  the  body,  but  it  is  Christianity  without  Christ. 
The  believer  has  but  to  read,  "As  in  Adam  all  die,  so  in  Christ  shall 
all  be  made  alive,"  and  all  this  painful  groping,  ancient  and  modern, 
can  be  dismissed.  Why,  then,  recall  it?  Because  so  many  are  caught 
in  the  snare  of  man's  wisdom,  and  seem  to  be  unable  to  see  the  force 
of  the  simple  satisfactory  Divine  statement. 

107.  As  to  detail,  Plato  concludes  "that  those  guilty  of  great 
crimes  will  be  cast  into  Tartarus,  whence  they  will  never  go  out ;  that 
those  less  guilty  will  be  cast  into  Tartarus  for  a  time,  and  then  if  their 
victim  take  pity  on  them  they  will  be  allowed  to  escape,  and  that  the 
righteous  will  go  to  the  mansions  of  the  blessed.^'  Plato's  "Republic" 
ends  with  a  judgment  in  which  "all  men,  good  and  bad,  receive  be- 
yond death  exact  retribution  according  to  their  works."  These  reason- 
ings are  all  within  the  sphere  of  natural  religion  and  deserve  recog- 
nition as  the  "groping"  of  noble  minds.  But  after  "Light  and 
immortality  are  brought  to  light  through  the  gospel,"  it  is  inexcusable 
for  believers  to  cling  to  these  misleading  statements  which  express  the 
conclusions  of  the  natural  man  only. 

108.  If  "in  Adam  all  die,"  then  there  is  no  immortality  in  Adam. 
If  "in  Christ  all  be  made  alive,"  then  all  future  existence  must  be  on 
that  basis.  This  might  be  easily  accepted,  so  far  as  resurrection  goes. 
But  this  question  remains.  Dr.  Haley  says,  "Virtue  is  not  suitably  re- 
warded nor  vice  fully  punished  in  this  world;  this  is  obvious.  JVe 
instinctively  feel  the  need  of  a  future  state  to  complement  the  present, 
to  meet  the  demands  of  conscience  and  vindicate  the  wisdom  and 
justice  of  Divine  Government."  This  statement  would  indicate  that  its 
author  makes  little  or  no  account  of  the  Gospel  of  God.  If  God  was 
not  vindicated  at  the  cross,  no  amount  of  penal  misery  would  help 
His  reputation.     Zeal,  what  for?     Law  or  Gospel? 

109.  "Christ,  the  first-born."  He  was  born,  lived,  suffered, 
worked,  rejoiced,  witnessed,  died  and  rose  again;  He  is  the  surety  of 
immortality  to  man. 

no.     "Lord  of  the  Dead." 

"For  life  is  ever  Lord  of  Death, 
And  Love  can  never  lose  its  own." 

Ill,  Thus  Death  is  the  opening  of  a  more  subtle  life.  In  the 
flower,  it  sets  free  the  perfume;  in  the  chrysalis,  the  butterfly;  in  man, 
the  new  soul  nature. — Juliette  Adam. 


184  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

112.  "Brought  life  and  incorruptibility  to  light."  "It  is  not 
the  grave  that  needs  the  illumination,  but  the  inmost  soul  of  man. 
Man  carries  his  "light  and  his  darkness  within  himself;  the  grave  is 
just  as  bright  as  the  fireside  for  the  soul  that  is  kindled  with  the 
love  of  God,  of  Christ,  of  truth,  and  purity  and  righteousness." — 
S.  E.  Herrick. 

113.  My  body  must  descend  to  the  place  ordained,  but  my  soul 
will  not  descend ;  being  a  thing  immortal,  it  will  ascend  on  high,  where 
it  will  enter  a  heavenly  abode. — Heraclitus,  Ephesian,  ^00  B.  C. 

114.  We  get  knowledge  by  losing  what  we  hoped  for,  and 
liberty  by  losing  what  we  loved. — Mrs.  Browning. 

115.  Those  who  hope  for  no  other  life  are  dead  even  for  this. — 
Goethe. 

1 16.  "Turning  to  natural  religion — we  are  constantly  confronted 
with  the  name,  the  authority,  the  arguments  of  Bishop  Butler, — I 
entirely  accept  the  cogency  of  his  reasoning,  against  the  doctrine  of 
those,  if  such  there  be,  who  deny  the  existence  of  punishment  beyond 
the  grave;  possibly  even  they  are  irresistible."  (F,  W.  Farrar.) 
"If  such  there  be."  Well,  that  was  fifty  years  ago,  and  we  have  now 
come  to  post-war  conditions,  and  there  are  "such"  today,  this  book 
indicating  the  possibility,  and  it  is  to  be  hoped  the  credibility  of  Christ 
victorious  over  all  evils.  "Not  unto  us  but  unto  Thy  name  the 
glory." 

117.  Unfamiliar  truth  is  first  taken  to  be  heretical;  second,  as 
possibly  true;  third,  "We  have  thought  so  always." 

118.  "Heaven  means  principle,"  said  Confucius. 

119.  Is  creation  but  a  mask  with  no  living  face  behind  it? 

120.  "Are  there  few  that  be  saved  ?"  was  not  answered.  "I  will 
have  mercy  on  whom  I  will  have  mercy"  implies  that  His  mercy  is 
"unobligated  and  sovereign."  So  is  a  mother's;  the  quality  of  mercy  is 
not  strained.  This  sounds  too  much  like  saying  that  God  did  not  care 
for  those  on  whom  He  did  not  have  mercy.  Yet  the  fact  is  that 
temporary  mercy  and  ultimate  mercy  are  two  distinct  phases.  (Luke 
13:23;  Matt.  7:  14;  22:  14.) 

121.  I  Cor.  14:24,25,  Is  it  a  spiritual  jiu-jitsu  that  forces  the 
impenitent  knee  to  bow  and  the  stiff  neck  to  bend? 

122.  Ransom  has  been  made  to  bear  the  odium  of  the  notion  that 
Christ  ransomed  men  from  Satan,  as  if  evil  existed  and  extorted 
ransom  as  a  right. 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 85 

123.  Spiritual  knowledge  and  intuition  are  one  thing;  Biblical 
criticism  is  another. 

124.  Cartwright,  Presbyterian  in  Elizabeth's  reign,  was  a  good 
man,  yet  he  said,  "Heretics  ought  to  be  burned  even  after  repent- 
ance," and  "if  this  was  extreme  and  bloody,  he  was  content  to  be  so 
counted  with  the  Holy  Ghost."  Borromeo,  who  in  the  plague  tended 
the  sick,  afterward  persecuted  heretics.  Calvin's  holiness  did  not  save 
him  from  polluting  the  pure  stream  of  Gospel  truth  by  influxes  of 
a  remorseless  logic  which  led  him  to  conclusions  utterly  revolting  to 
the  moral  sense. 

125.  Plumptre,  "The  dark  shadow  of  Augustine,  dark  in  spite 
of  all  the  nobleness  of  the  man,  was  deepened  into  darkest  midnight 
by  certain  dogmas  of  Calvin ;  by  restrictions  and  limitations  of  Gos- 
pel hopes,  and  most  awful  issues  of  dread  decrees  of  sovereignty?" 
Here  is  the  source  of  many  errors,  sovereignty,  kingdom,  law,  pen- 
alty ;  the  fruit  of  the  tree  of  knowledge.  The  Tree  of  Life  is  omitted 
from  the  argument.  The  Law  of  the  kingdom  must  be  maintained, 
even  though  God's  nature  be  misunderstood.  Because  the  Judge  of 
all  the  earth  will  do  right;  therefore.  Love  must  take  the  lower  place. 
But  no !  Truly  righteousness  must  be  vindicated ;  this,  however,  is 
preliminary  to  the  enthronement  of  Love.  "That  He  might  be  just," 
yes,  and  "the  justifier" — The  universe  is  challenged  to  find  a  flaw  in 
the  righteousness  of  God,  established  by  Jesus  Christ  through  His 
"passion,"  or  in  the  salvation  of  the  dead  who  can  be  brought  to  see 
and  believe. 

126.  Israel,  after  3,500  years  of  unbelief  and  ignorance,  of  rebel- 
lion and  discipline,  will  see  and  acknowledge  their  Messiah  and  Re- 
deemer on  the  day  His  feet  touch  the  Mount  of  Olives,  and  they  will 
then  and  there  be  saved  to  sin  no  more;  for  Jehovah,  their  God  and 
Savior,  will  circumcise  their  hearts  to  love  Him  (Deut.  30:  6).  And 
this,  not  by  a  process  of  chastisement,  purifying,  polishing,  to  make 
them  "fit,"  but  by  one  unveiled  "look"  upon  Him  whom  they  have 
pierced.  Indeed,  the  Lord  intimates  that  chastisement  would  exter- 
minate them,  therefore  He  ceases. 

127.  Look!  Unto  Me!  And  be  ye  saved!  All  the  ends  of 
the  earth  (read  Isa.  45:  21-23).  Cain!  Why  go  with  a  hung-down 
head?  Why  turn  your  back?  Look !  but  once.  Saul!  Saul!  Look 
at  Me!  Dying  malefactor,  look!  Rebellious  Israel,  look!  Behold, 
Thy  King  cometh.     No  caviler  can  say  that  Saul's  free-will  was  vio- 


1 86  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

lated  in  the  face  of  the  testimony  he  has  put  on  record.     "The  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  me." 

128.  "The  Restitution  of  All  Things,"  by  Andrew  Jukes,  i6th 
impression,  A.  D.  1904.  Longmans,  Green  &  Co.,  39  Paternoster 
Row.  Preface,  A.  D.  1867,  shows  that  this  book  has  had  an  increas- 
ing number  of  readers  for  over  fifty  years.  It  gives  the  best  Scrip- 
tural exposition,  clears  up  more  difficulties,  and  makes  a  more  spir- 
itual impression,  on  careful  reading,  than  any  other  book  published, 
refuting  the  theory  of  endless  punishment  for  sin. — Hobab. 

129.  Samuel  Cox  says  of  Jukes's  "Restitution''  "A  valuable  and 
suggestive  work,  which  swept  the  last  remnants  of  difficulty  clean  out 
of  my  mind." 

130.  Robert  Anderson  says  of  Andrew  Jukes's  book,  "Restitu- 
tion of  All  Things,"  that  it  "might  with  fairness  be  adopted  as  a 
handbook  in  the  controversy.  Here  at  last  we  find  ourselves  in  the 
calm  atmosphere  of  reverent  and  patient  study  of  the  Scriptures,  to 
the  sacredness  and  authority  of  which  the  author  gives  a  noble  tes- 
timony." "But,"  as  Anderson  goes  on,  w^e  see  that  he  has  not  the 
Spiritual  perception  to  enter  as  deeply  into  Scripture  as  Jukes  has,  and 
so  he  fails  to  profit  by  it. 

131.  The  continuance  of  the  soul  after  death,  its  judgment  in 
another  world,  and  its  sentence  according  to  its  deserts,  either  to  hap- 
piness or  suffering,  were  undoubted  parts,  both  of  the  popular  and 
of  the  more  recondite  religion.  It  was  the  Egyptian  belief  that, 
immediately  after  death,  the  soul  descended  into  the  lower  world  and 
was  conducted  to  the  Hall  of  Truth,  where  it  was  judged  in  the  pres- 
ence of  Osiris  and  the  forty-two  assessors,  judges  of  the  dead.  All 
this,  and  more,  Moses  left  behind. 

132.  "Men  and  Theologians."  Farrar,  as  a  man,  plays  havoc 
with  some  theological  systems,  but  holds  that  there  is  future  punish- 
ment for  unrepented  sin.  There  are,  however,  Christians  who  believe 
in  the  finished  work  of  the  cross  as  the  basis  of  grace  proclaimed  to 
all.  And  grace  does  not  deny  justice.  The  common  belief  is  the 
natural,  sprinkled  with  a  few  Bible  words  unvitalized  by  spirit,  a  dead 
letter.  These  ecclesiastics  hold  the  Gospel  to  be  but  a  means  provided 
whereby  a  man  can  choose  Heaven  or  Hell  just  as  the  whim  of  the 
moment  seizes  him,  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  choose  a  pair  of  socks. 
Whereas,  God  sets  Himself  forth  as  a  Teacher  whose  course  is  five 
eons  in  length,  the  whole  Bible  his  text-books,  and  His  Son  in  various 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 87 

unveilings  from  Alpha  to  Omega  as  the  God  of  these  eons,  at  the  end 
of  which  the  universe  of  intelligent  creatures  will  have  a  knowledge 
of  God.  If  anyone  wishes  to  imagine  that  then  there  will  be  one 
creature  that  will  set  his  will  up  against  that  manifested  glory,  and 
can  discover  a  hell  outside  of  God's  universe,  and  if  he  can  imagine 
endless  duration  without  bursting  like  the  frog  who  would  rival  the 
ox,  and  so  forth,  ad  libitum,  why,  this  is  a  free  country,  let  him  think 
so.  But  some  day  he  will  listen  to  God  and  know  the  truth,  for  God 
is  a  perfect  teacher.  The  truth  on  this  subject  is  not  a  primary  prin- 
ciple; it  is  a  conclusion.  Where  Love  is  obscured,  it  is  no  pleasure 
to  print  trite  remarks.  Has  God  no  comfort  to  pass  on  to  those 
who  see  loved  ones  depart  this  life  with  a  belief  that  eternal  torments 
await  them?  Is  this  a  theme  for  argument  only?  The  word  of  God 
is  distorted  by  those  who  pretend  to  represent  it;  they  "entomb  its 
pure  words  in  inverted  pyramids  of  fallible  inference."  This  is  not 
a  question  for  the  practice  of  rhetoric  and  oratory.  It  deals  with  the 
relation  of  God  and  men. 

133.  The  holy  Sabbath  day  is  no  longer  in  time  measurement 
than  any  other  day.  So  the  coming  eon,  though  glorious  as  a  Millen- 
nial Sabbath,  is  no  longer  than  any  other  thousand  years  of  measured 
time.  It  is  sacramentarianism  that  exalts  these  outward  terms.  Christ 
is  the  one  great  sacrament;  He  acted  visibly. 

134.  Illingsworth,  "From  the  extreme  view,  that  mind  is  a  pass- 
ing harmony  of  matter  to  the  other  extreme  that — matter  is  a  dream 
of  mind."  But!  What  is  the  relation  of  the  Supreme  Spirit  to  all 
matter?  (i)  His  word  spoke  it,  and  the  Divine  idea  materialized. 
They  are  separable  in  thought.  The  personality  is  with  the  spirit. 
Is  it  not  so  of  God?  Matter  is  a  matrix  for  expression  of  mind. 
The  Old  Creation  does  not  fully  or  fairly  express  God;  therefore, 
like  the  caterpillar,  it  must  pass  away,  that  the  New  Creation,  the 
butterfly,  may  express  in  more  beautiful  and  higher  forms  the  very 
mind  of  God. 

135.  The  issues  that  the  post-eonian  future  will  present  are  not 
for  these  eonian  times.  At  the  consummation  of  the  eons  there  will 
have  been  produced  a  blessed  harmony  and  a  wonderful  proficiency, 
but  for  just  what,  remains  one  of  the  secret  things  that  belongs  to 
God.  The  vision  of  the  Millennial  throne  and  the  attending  angels 
and  harpers,  and  of  the  Millennial  city,  are  referred  to  as  if  filmed 


1 88  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

once  for  all,  and  then  repeated  as  showing  heaven's  one  only  aspect, 
and  its  one  unchanging  activity. 

136.  Why,  if  the  Soul  can  fling  the  Dust  aside, 
And  naked  on  the  Air  of  Heaven  ride, 

Were't  not  a  shame — were't  not  a  shame  for  him 
In  this  clay  carcass  crippled  to  abide? 

— Omar. 
(So  Cato  reasoned — compare  Hamlet.) 

137.  A  moment's  halt — a  momentary  taste 

Of  BEING  from  the  Well  am'id  the  Waste— 
And   Lo!   the  phantom  caravan  has  reach'd 
The  NOTHING  it  set  out  from,— Oh,  make  haste! 

— Omar. 

138.  And  this  I  know:   whether  the  one  true-light 
Kindle  to  love,  or  wrath-consume  me  quite 

One  flash  of  It  within  the  tavern  caught 
Better  than  in  the  temple  lost  outright. 


— O; 


139.    What!  out  of  senseless  Nothing  to  provoke 
A  conscious  something  to  resent  the  yoke 

Of  unpermitted  Pleasure  under  pain 
Of  Everlasting  penalties,  if  broke! 


-Omar. 


140.  What!  from  his  helpless  Creature  be  repaid 
Pure  gold  for  what  he  lent  him  dross — allay'd, 

Sue  for  a  debt  he  never  did  contract, 
And  cannot  answer — Oh,  the  sorry  trade! 

— Omar. 

141.  Dante,  "The  unbaptized  bear  the  wrath  of  God,  and,  with- 
out hope,  live  ever  in  desire." — Inferno,  IV,  24-40. 

142.  Augustine  dogmatized  that  baptism  was  necessary  to  the 
salvation  of  children,  and  the  Western  Church  accepted  his  teaching 
(Aug.  Ser.,  138).  There  was  no  possibility  of  pardon,  or  growth,  or 
ultimate  acceptance  after  their  death. 

143.  "God-forsakenness  is  the  lot  of  that  man  who  dies  in  his 
sins.  It  is  awful  to  contemplate.  It  makes  the  hand  tremble  to 
write  the  words.  But  unless  men  know  this  truth,  they  will  not 
fly  for  refuge  to  Him  who  is  the  Way,  the  Truth  and  the  Life." 
— Gray. 

144.  The  relative  place  of  the  doctrine  of  sin  compared  with  the 
whole  of  Scripture  teaching  is  greatly  exaggerated  when  it  is  looked 
at  in  sj'stematic  theology  and  so-called  gospel  preaching.  Look  it  up 
in  your  Concordance.     If  there  never  had  been  a  sin  committed  up 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  1 89 

to  the  present  time,  the  universe  would  still  be  unacceptable,  and 
no  creature  would  have  anj'  assurance  of  salvation  or  of  immortality. 
The  wisest  one  of  God's  creatures  was  separated  from  God  by  igno- 
rance. Creature  limitation  was  the  cause  of  evil.  For  action  guided 
by  a  finite  mind  lacks  the  perfection  of  that  which  follows  omniscience. 
The  finite  must  say  to  the  Infinite,  "Thy  will,  not  mine."  Sin  has 
had  a  beginning,  a  course  and  an  end.  It  has  had  a  purpose,  which, 
accomplished,  makes  its  continuance  unnecessary. 

145.  "There  is  an  end  to  God's  mercy  sometimes;  His  justice 
demands  this."  This  demand  was  satisfied  at  the  Cross.  Lust  pos- 
sesses two  daughters,  who  cry,  "Give!  give!"  So  this  abstract  goddess 
blindly  "demands"  and  "demands." 

146.  Savd  us  from  our  friends  who  would  apologize  after  this 
manner:  "It  is  an  act  of  mercy  on  God's  part  to  destroy  a  few  that 
the  many  may  be  warned  and  some  saved." — Dean  Gray. 

147.  "Denominationalism  is  almost  a  necessity  in  the  present 
age.  The  Calvinist  is  necessary  to  the  Arminian  and  vice  versa." 
(Gray.)  More  apologies?  Oh,  yes!  The  system  does  have  a 
department  of  apologetics. 

148.  Emmons  says,  "Extinction  of  being  would  be  escape  from 
punishment." 

149.  "Tartarus"  lasts  only  until  judgment.  "Hades"  disap- 
pears at  Judgment.  "Gehenna,"  where  it  is  used  other  than  of  the 
well-known  valley,  is  in  Jewish  connection  only,  and  notes  disci- 
plinary and  not  final  conditions. 

150.  Man  is  as  God  created  him  as  far  as  functions  go.  He  has 
mind,  conscience,  soul,  will,  a  sense  of  justice,  a  reasoning  power, 
logic.  He  can  observe,  deduce  and  come  to  conclusions  within  his 
sphere.  Sin  is  an  added  factor  which  calls  attention  to  his  need  of 
God. 

151.  "The  heathen  are  lost  forever  because  of  sin.  It  is  like 
disease  in  the  human  body,  for  which  there  is  a  certain  cure,  but  of 
which  the  afflicted  one  in  a  certain  case  has  no  knowledge.  He  dies 
because  of  the  disease." — Gray. 

152.  Dean  Gray  saj's,  criticizing  Matt.  13:39:  "The  word 
translated  'world'  should  be  rendered  'age,'  and  the  forty-ninth  verse 
should  read  in  the  end  of  the  'age,'  thus  clearly  indicating  that  an  age 
is  time  limited."  (The  word  is  eon.)  This  is  not  a  pagan  "rumor." 
It  is  the  Dean  of  a  Bible  Institute  condemning  a  Dean  of  a  Divin- 


I90  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

ity  (?)  School;  the  pubh'cation  from  which  this  is  taken  was  pur- 
chased at  the  Chicago  Bible  Institute  Book  Store.  He  also  says: 
"As  I  understand  the  Scriptures,  there  is  no  hope  for  any  man  in  this 
(last)  age  or  any  previous  age,  who  dies,  or  has  died,  in  his  sins. 
I  know  no  Scripture  which  gives  them  another  chance  in  any  other 
age  or  reign.  On  the  contrary,  the  analogy  of  other  ages  is  all 
against  it."  Ages  are  thus  referred  to,  but  where  is  there  any 
adequate  Biblical  doctrine  of  the  ages  from  these  eternalists?  Ages 
and  Eternity  are  contradictory  in  meaning,  if  eternity  has  any  mean- 
ing on  the  lips  of  finite  creatures.  And  if  these  writers  had  the 
Scriptural  idea  of  the  origin  and  purpose  of  evil,  they  would  not  talk 
of  its  endlessness.  If  they  confess  the  origin  of  evil  to  be  an  insoluble 
problem,  why  so  insistent  upon  its  endlessness? 

153.  Torrey  writes,  "As  Christians  become  worldly  and  easy- 
going they  grow  loose  in  their  doctrine  concerning  the  doom  of  the 
impenitent.  Men  who  accept  a  loose  doctrine  regarding  the  ultimate' 
penalty  of  sin,  be  it  Universalism,  Restorationism,  or  Annihilationism, 
lose  their  power  with  God."  "If  you  in  any  wise  abate  the  doctrine 
of  the  endless  torment  of  the  impenitent,  it  will  abate  your  zeal." 
And  if  Israel  as  a  nation,  or  if  any  Gentile  individual,  will  believe 
the  Gospel  of  Grace,  it  will  abate  zeal  for  the  law.  This  zeal  with- 
out knowledge  is  very  active,  but  it  does  not  have  Divine  approval. 
It  is  an  intolerant  zeal,  a  mud-slinging  zeal,  a  Pharisaic  zeal.  Paul, 
who  does  not  mention  Hades,  or  Gehenna,  or  the  Lake  of  the  Fire, 
and  "of  course"  did  not  use  the  English  word  Hell,  may  not  have 
had  that  "power  vvith  God"  which  depends  on  the  preaching  of  end- 
less penalty  for  sin,  but  God  had  power  with  Paul.  Now  we  do  not 
read  that  Jesus  preached  Hell  to  Saul  of  Tarsus,  nor  are  we  to  sup- 
pose that  the  omission  harmed  him.  Paul  himself  says  that  it  was 
the  Love  of  Christ  that  constrained  him.  (II  Cor.  5 :  14.)  We  also 
read  that  it  is  the  goodness  of  God  that  leads  to  repentance,  and  that 
gracious  miracles  would  have  led  even  Sodom  to  repent. 

Is  it  indeed  the  same  Dr.  Torrey  who  writes  in  a  magazine  for 
May,  1920,  "What  the  Cross  Means,"  in  which  he  says,  "It  means 
that  God  is  holy  and  that  God  is  Love.  It  means  that  Satan  is  a 
conquered  enemy.  It  means  that  the  whole  universe,  'All  things, 
whether  they  be  things  in  earth  or  things  in  heaven,'  are  reconciled 
to  God"?     (Col.  1 :  18-20.) 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  IQI 

These  modern  Jacobites  who  claim  to  have  "power  with  God" 
have  nothing  but  the  somewhat  uncertain  rendering  in  the  account  of 
the  WTesth'ng  at  the  brook  Jabbok  to  base  their  catchword  on.  Apart 
from  this,  the  expression  does  not  occur  in  Scripture.  No  believer 
need  fear  losing  what  he  never  had. 

Gen.  32:  22-32,  Jacob  at  Jaboc,  the  trouble  maker  in  trouble. 
Jabbok  means  pounded  to  dust.  This  elect  man,  exiled  for  years,  is 
returning  to  the  promised  land.  He  strove  with  Esau  in  the  womb, 
and  later  strove  by  deceit  with  his  father  and  brother  for  the  covenant 
blessing,  which  was  his  in  any  case.  Now  he  comes  to  Jabbok ;  it  is 
the  time  and  place  of  "Jacob's  trouble,"  in  which  God  threshes  out 
the  flesh  and  brings  to  light  the  spiritual  Israel.  Need  it  be  pointed 
out  to  a  prophetic  student  that  Jacob  the  nation  is  about  to  return 
to  the  land ;  that  the  great  tribulation  which  is  the  narrow  gate  to 
their  kingdom  is  prefigured  in  the  jabbokking  of  that  night  when 
Jacob  was  pounded  that  Israel  might  enter  the  inheritance?  Then 
for  a  millennium  Israel  will  be  "a  prince  with  God,"  ruling  under 
(not  over)  Messiah,  their  head.  "Alas!  for  that  day  is  great,  so  that 
none  is  like  it;  it  is  even  the  time  of  Jacob's  trouble;  but  he  shall 
be  saved  out  of  it."  (Jer.  30:7.)  Israel,  the  new  name,  means 
Prince  with  God,  and  it  is  the  name  of  the  perfected  nation  of  priests 
which  teaches  the  nations  for  a  thousand  years.  Then  Messiah  vvnlll 
prevail  over  Jacob,  and  Messiah  with  Israel  will  rule. 

154.  All  error  has  been  called  heresy  and  all  heresy  has  been 
doomed  to  endless  hell.  Is  there  none  of  this  narrow  spirit  left? 
There  are  some  who  specialize  in  the  saving  evangelism  of  a  "second 
blessing,"  or  in  "doctrines  that  must  be  believed,"  or  in  acts  that  must 
be  done.  There  is  still  a  "Shibboleth"  for  life,  and  a  "Siboleth"  for 
death  at  the  ford  of  the  Jordan.  But  He  who  was  "sent"  from  God 
thus  presents  the  preliminary  requisite,  "If  any  man  is  willing  to  do 
His  will,  he  shall  know."  Here  is  the  famous  Free- Will,  but  shorn 
of  its  pretentiousness.  Even  Will  is  subject  to  desire,  and  desire  can 
be  excited  by  the  appropriate  motive.  God  can  bring  motives  to  bear 
of  various  kinds.  The  blind  man  of  the  ninth  chapter  of  John  was 
an  apt  scholar;  he  was  one  of  the  very  few  who  learned  before  His 
resurrection  that  Jesus,  the  Son  of  Man,  was  the  Son  of  God.  This 
will  be  one  great  teaching  of  the  Millennium. 

155.  God  is  spirit.  Supreme  Divine  intelligence  is  manifested 
in  the  setting  forth  of  the  Father  by  the  Son.     In  other  words,  the 

13 


192  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

gospel  concerning  the  Son  is  the  wisdom  of  God.  Supreme  Spirit  is 
Supreme  Intelligence.  God's  purpose  of  the  eons  shows  His  Supreme 
Intelligence.  The  carrying  out  of  His  purpose  was  through  Divine 
utterance.  In  other  words,  "All  things  were  made  by  the  Word" 
(the  Son).  "He  spake  and  it  was  done."  "And  Elohim  said,  Light 
be!  and  Light  was."  Visible  creation,  animate  and  inanimate,  spirit 
and  matter,  declares  its  Creator.  The  Living  Word  is  also  the 
"First-born  of  all  creation."  The  Universe  is  thus  a  unit  under  the 
Headship  of  the  Son.  God  is  One.  God  and  the  Universe  are 
two.  We  are  mostly  concerned  with  man  as  a  part  of  the  Universe, 
and  his  relation  to  God.  This  relation  is  perfected  only  in  Christ, 
the  Head  of  the  Man,  and  perfected  only  at  the  completion  of  His 
work.  "How  are  two  to  walk  together  except  they  are  agreed?" 
God  and  the  Universe  are  not  yet  in  agreement  and  they  never  were. 
This  is  part  of  the  temporary  humiliation  of  the  Son  who  is  identified 
with  creation.  The  Son  is  One  with  the  Father,  and  when  God  and 
creation  are  so  reconciled  by  the  Son  that  God  can  be  all  in  all, 
then  we  can  hail  Christ  Victorious!  Meanwhile  man  belongs  to  the 
unreconciled  Universe,  the  party  of  the  second  part.  When  will  the 
Universe  be  reconciled  to  God?  Not  while  evil  continues  to  be 
recognized  as  part  of  it.  Well!  says  the  human  justice  of  the  peace, 
cut  the  universe  in  two  and  send  part  of  it  to  an  endless  hell  and 
let  Christ  be  Head  over  a  divided  creation.  No,  says  the  believer,  for 
victorious  Headship,  must  not  the  Son  subdue  will  to  agree  with  will, 
and  spirit  to  agree  with  Spirit,  in  the  whole,  even  as  He  has  already 
done  in  part?  Darkness  remains  over  half  our  globe;  cannot  the 
Light  shine  upon  a  complete  globe  at  one  time?  Must  there  always 
be  a  dark  side  to  the  moon?  Not  always.  "There  will  be  no  more 
night."  Love  is  creative ;  Love  will  produce  a  returning  love ;  and 
in  the  Truth  souls  must  love  each  other,  for  "it  is  their  nature  to." 
Ignorance  will  not  be  allowed  to  exist  in  endless  contradiction  of 
knowledge.  You  cannot  always  love  God  and  Mammon.  The  Lord 
loveth  righteousness  and  hateth  iniquity,  and  so  will  every  intelligent 
creature;  that  is,  every  spirit  that  knoweth  God.  It  was  not  when 
Adam  took  upon  himself  the  responsibility  of  Eve's  act  that  the  Son 
was  "sent  forth;"  it  was  at  the  first  creative  word  that  the  Word 
began  as  Alpha  to  do  a  work  which  will  be  realized  in  a  reconciled 
creation  only  when  Omega  shall  demonstrate  its  completion.  "I  am 
the  Alpha,  the  Beginning  or  Head  of  the  creation;  I  am  the  Omega!" 


MISCELLANEOUS    QUOTATIONS  I93 

Is  not  "the  new  creation"  a  finished  work?  "The  never-ending  ages 
of  eternity"  as  they  "roll  on"  will  do  so  after  this  finished  work  is 
returned  to  the  Father  in  the  Son. 

156.  Death,  like  darkness,  is  a  negative.  Both  are  annulled  by 
Life  and  Light.  But  of  the  positive  it  is  written,  "All  things  are  out 
of  God  and  through  God,  and  unto  God."  (Rom.  11:36;  II  Cor. 
5:18-20;  Heb.  9:26.)  "But  made  manifest  now  by  the  epiphany 
of  our  Savior  Jesus  Christ,  who  indeed  annulled  the  Death  but 
brought  the  Life  and  the  incorruptibility  to  Light  through  the  Gos- 
pel." "Death  shall  be  no  more,"  (Rev.  21 :  4,  5.)  "I  am  the 
Beginning  and  the  End."  (Rev.  22:13,)  "All  things  new!" 
Heaven,  earth.  But  no  new  Death,  no  new  Hades,  no  new  Gehenna, 
Tartarus,  There  is  not  j'et  a  revelation  of  what  comes  after  the 
victorious  "Omega." 


CHAPTER  XI 

SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES 

"Thy  Word  is  Truth."  But  that  word  has  been  perverted,  and 
perverted  truth  is  a  lie.  It  was  perverted  by  the  Devil  in  the  Garden 
with  dire  results;  in  the  Wilderness  Temptation  without  avail.  The 
Law  especially  is  used  by  the  Liar  to  blind  Israel,  to  snare  believers, 
to  commercialize  the  ignorant  conscience.  A  partial  truth  is  a  lie. 
An  intelligent,  otherwise  a  spiritual,  knowledge  of  God  is  acquired 
only  by  a  diligent  exercise  of  the  spiritual  senses  under  the  Divine 
Teacher.  This  chapter  will  give  exam.ples  of  texts  seen  from  various 
viewpoints,  false  and  true. 

I  Tim.  4:7;  Heb.  5:14;  Heb.  12 :  1 1 ;  II  Peter  2 :  14 — these  pas- 
sages speak  of  spiritual  gymnastics  that  result  in  a  discernment  of  good 
and  evil ;  that  are  unto  godliness,  rather  than  unto  covetousness.  If 
you  do  not  form  a  perfect  creed,  yet  the  exercise  profits  far  more  than 
physical  gymnastics  in  religion  do.     (I  Tim.  4:8.) 

"I  speak  now  no  longer  with  natural  passion,  but  with  most  accu- 
rate theological  precision,  when  I  say  that,  though  texts  may  be  quoted 
which  give  prima  facie  plausibility  to  such  modes  of  teaching, — they 
are  founded  on  interpretations  which  have  appeared  to  many  wise  men 
to  be  demonstrably  groundless;  and  that  for  every  one  so  quoted,  two 
can  be  adduced  whose  prima  facie  and  literal  interpretation  tells  on 
the  other  side.  Tyranny  has  engraved  texts  upon  her  sword ;  Oppres- 
sion has  carved  texts  upon  her  fetters;  Cruelty  has  tied  texts  around 
her  faggots;  Ignorance  has  set  Knowledge  at  defiance  with  texts 
woven  on  her  flag.  Gin-drinking  has  been  defended  out  of  Timothy, 
and  Slavery  made  a  stronghold  out  of  Philemon;  the  Devil  quoted 
texts  in  the  Temptation ;  the  Pharisees  quoted  texts  against  our  Lord." 
— F.  W.  Farrar. 

II  Thess.  1 :  7-9,  Eonian  destruction  from  the  presence  [pros- 
opon)  of  the  Lord.  This  epistle  was  one  of  the  first  New  Testament 
writings  (about  A.  D.  52).  The  promise  to  Abraham  of  Millennial 
blessing  was  the  only  SCRIPTURAL  "hope"  of  believers  up  to 
Eph.  1 :  3,  where  the  heavenly  "hope"  was  first  recorded.  This 
"destruction"  occurs  at  the  unveiling  of  the  Lord  Jesus,  and,  like  all 
the  judgments  of  the  Son  of  Man,  they  do  not  go  beyond  His  thou- 
sand years  of  reign.     After  the  Millennium  only  will  the  Divine 

power  and  glory  of  the  Son  of  God  be  exercised  to  the  full  in  His 

194 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  195 

universal  Headship,  The  Son  of  David  exercises  regal  power  over 
living  descendants  of  Adam  only;  the  last  Adam  is  the  Son  of  Man 
from  Heaven.  He  has  a  relation  to  the  dead  as  well  as  living.  (Rev. 
14:  7-9;  Luke  20:  38.) 

Dean  Torrey  asks,  "What  does  everlasting  (eonian)  destruction 
mean?  In  Rev.  17:8  the  beast  goeth  into  destruction.  In  19:20, 
the  beast  and  the  false  prophet  they  two  were  cast  alive  into  the 
Lake  of  Fire  that  burneth  with  brimstone,  so  we  see  that  [their] 
destruction  is  a  portion  in  the  Lake  of  Fire.  And  Rev.  20:  10,  The 
Devil  was  cast  into  the  Lake  of  Fire,  where  are  also  the  beast  and 
false  prophet  [after  having  already  been  there  one  thousand  years. 
See  context].  And  they  shall  be  tormented  day  and  night  forever 
and  ever  [for  the  eons  of  the  eons].  So  we  see  that  destruction  means 
a  portion  in  the  Lake  of  Fire  where  its  inhabitants  are  consciously  suf- 
fering without  cessation  forever  and  ever."  (For  the  eons  of  the 
eons — that  is  the  thousand-year  eon  which  is  mentioned  and  the  one 
which  follows  it.)     "We"  don't  see  it. 

The  Dean  continues,  "To  be  cast  out  from  the  presence  of  the 
Lord  is  the  root  of  'eternal  death'  [an  unscriptural  expression]  ;  it 
is  evil  left  to  its  own  working,  but  it  may  be  some  time  before  the 
full  result  is  experienced  and  realized.  The  unbelieving  may  be  cast 
out,  i.  e.,  from  the  presence  of  Christ's  glory,  but  yet  remain  to  some 
extent  upon  the  earth." 

Luke  20 136,  Sadducean  errors  corrected.  Vs.  34.  "The  sons  of 
this  eon  marry."  This  present  eon  is  evil;  to  be  followed  by  a  good 
one  where,  in  resurrection  life,  children  of  the  kingdom  will  be  blest. 
Those  who  are  accounted  worthy  of  that  eon  and  resurrection  from 
the  dead  do  not  marry — for  neither  are  they  able  to  die  any  more; 
for  they  are  equal  to  angels,  and  are  sons  of  God,  being  sons  of  the 
resurrection!  All  resurrected  ones  who  enjoy  eonian  life  under 
Messiah's  reign  are  by  this  fact  declared  to  be  sons  of  God.  (Rom. 
1:4.)  Resurrection  declared  Jesus  to  be  Son  of  God.  "In  Christ 
shall  all  be  made  alive;"  this  fact  will  declare  every  human  being 
to  be  a  child  of  God.  Therefore,  they  are  not  raised  from  the  dead 
as  children  of  Adam,  as  impenitent,  unbelieving,  ignorant.  Are  the 
wicked  dead  to  be  raised  "in  Christ"  in  wickedness?  The  wicked 
shall  not  stand  in  judgment,  nor  sinners  in  the  congregation  of  the 
righteous. 


196  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 


Is  this  decisive  as  to  angels?     See  Ps.  82:  7, 


Cannot  die. 

Are  on  the  angelic  plane — Death  is  not  there. 

Are  sons  of  God. 

Being  sons  of  the  resurrection. 
Ps.  82 :  7,  "I  said  ye  shall  die  like  men."     Of  what  texture  are 
angelic  bodies?    If  they  can  thus  die,  then  they  are  spirit  and  body. 
If  they  live,  they  love,  not  things  that  the  soul  of  man  might  crave, 
but  excellencies  of  spirit,  knowledge  that  puffeth  up,  etc. 

Rom.  14:  7-9,  But  he  is  not  of  dead  ones,  but  of  living  ones.  For 
no  one  of  us  lives  to  himself  or  dies  to  himself ;  for  even  if  we  should 
live,  we  should  live  to  the  Lord,  and  if  we  should  die,  we  die  to  the 
Lord.  If,  then,  we  should  live,  and  if  we  should  die,  we  are  the 
Lord's.  For  unto  this  Christ  both  died  and  lived  again,  that  he 
might  Lord  it  over  both  dead  and  living.  (Note  the  whole  chapter 
is  concerning  brotherly  relations,  as  to  eating  meats,  etc.) 

Fenton  renders,  "Since  none  of  us  can  live  for  himself,  and  none 
dies  to  himself,  for  if  we  live,  we  live  by  the  Lord,  and  if  we  die, 
we  die  to  the  Lord ;  therefore,  if  we  live  or  if  we  die,  we  belong  to 
the  Lord.  For  this  purpose  Christ  died  and  lived;  so  that,  dying  or 
living.  He  might  direct  us."  (Own  us,  control  us,  possess  us,  domi- 
nate us,  rule  us,  guide  us.  Lord  it  over  us.)  Not  the  God  of  the 
dead !  But  Christ  died  that  in  His  resurrection  all  might  live.  God, 
the  living  God,  did  not  die!  A  captain  declares  martial  law;  he  is 
captain  of  soldiers,  not  of  civilians,  but  he  is  dictator  over  both  sol- 
diers and  civilians.  John  5 :  25,  Shall  hear  the  voice  of  the  Son  of 
God  and  live.  Vs.  27,  judgment  because  He  is  the  Son  of  Man! 
The  life  resurrection  is  by  the  voice  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  judgment 
is  that  of  the  Son  of  Man,  which  ends  when  the  Son  of  God  is 
unveiled. 

Johns:  19-29,  The  Father  Judges  not.  Vs.  22,  all  judgment 
unto  the  Son.  Vs.  27,  Authority  to  execute  judgment,  because  he 
is  the  Son  of  Man.    Vs.  45,  I  will  not  accuse  you. 

Scripture,  "But  what  is  in  fact  the  voice  of  Scripture  on  the  sub- 
ject? The  voice  of  the  Church,  it  is  true,  has  been  heard  in  every 
age  in  support  of  the  doctrine  of  an  endless  hell,  and  in  some  sense 
the  testimony  gains  in  weight  from  the  fact  that  a  minority  never  has 
been  wanting  to  protest  against  the  dogma.    The  minority  may,  after 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  197 

all,  be  right."  (Robert  Anderson,  "Human  Destiny,"  p.  5.)  He  then 
goes  on  to  prove  it  wrong. 

Scripture,  Appeal  to  "the  whole  trend  of  Scripture"  may  or  may 
not  be  a  proper  argument,  but  it  is  confirmatory  of  the  reconciliation 
of  the  universe,  rather  than  of  sempiternal  punishment.  This  latter 
phrase  is  not  in  the  Old  Testament,  and  its  appearance  in  New  Tes- 
tament translation  is  easily  shown  to  be  erroneous.  Moreover,  con- 
clusions based  on  "law  which  perfected  nothing,"  do  not  conform  to 
Scripture  trend  as  does  the  position  that  is  founded  on  Gospel,  on 
Grace,  on  the  character  of  God,  rather  than  on  His  temporary  admin- 
istration of  justice,  which  he  establishes  once  for  all.  See  definite 
passages  listed  on  pages  199,  200,  201.  Matt.  1:21;  John  1:29; 
3;  17;  12:32;  Romans  5th  to  nth  chapters;  I  Cor.  15:20-28;  Eph. 
1 :  9,  10;  Phil.  2:  10,  II ;  John  i :  13;  i :  16-18;  4:  42;  5:  21-29,  34; 
6:28,  29,  37,  38;  7:  16,  17,  etc.,  with  Isa.  55;  John  6:45. 

Dan.  12:2,  Many  shall  enjoy  the  first  resurrection,  while  those 
who  do  not  shall  be  doomed  to  shame  and  contempt  for  the  eon  there 
contemplated,  which  is  the  eon  of  covenant  fulfilment.  This  contempt 
is  for  the  covenant  people  who  are  condemned  to  eonian  discipline. 
Abn  Ezra  renders  this  correctly,  "Those  who  wake  shall  be  appointed 
to  eonian  life,  and  those  who  awake  not  shall  be  appointed  to  shame 
and  eonian  contempt."  Tragelles,  "these  shall  be  unto  eonian  life, 
but  those  shall  be  unto  shame  and  eonian  contempt"  (as  in  Isa.  66:  24, 
"abhorring"). 

Ezek.  18:  1-32,  Could  this  turning  be  in  death  or  at  the  Great 
White  Throne? 

Judah,  Sodom,  Samaria  restored ;  is  this  historical,  or  of  the 
individual  dead? 

Ezek.  16:  55-63,  They  should  loathe  themselves  for  all  their  evils. 
Is  not  this  in  death  ? 

Ezek.  20:  42-44,  Ezekiel  brings  in  grace  if  moderns  do  not.  Gov- 
ernment, Ezek.    18:25. 

Zech.  9:  II,  12,  Stronghold — strong  tower. 

Day  of  the  Lord.  Burn  as  an  oven,  a  refiner,  and  purifier.  (Mai. 
3:  1,6,  17;  4:  12.) 

Heb.  9 :  26,  Blood  not  his  own,  "Since  [in  that  case]  it  were  neces- 
sary that  He  should  oftentimes  suffer  since  the  wreck  of  the  cosmos." 
If  Christ  must  offer  blood  yearly.  He  could  not,  like  the  High  Priest, 
offer  blood  not  His  own.     If  He  offer  His  own,  He  cannot  suffer 


198  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

yearly.  ''Since  the  wreck"  is  a  link  in  the  argument.  Now,  how- 
ever, once  for  all  at  the  end  of  the  eons  (that  is  from  the  wreck, 
which  demonstrated  the  presence  of  evil,  through  the  eons  and  up 
to  the  sacrifice  at  the  end  of  them.  The  doctrine  of  the  consumma- 
tion of  all  five  eons  should  not  be  pressed  in  here).  True,  Heb. 
11:3,  "He  framed  the  eons,"  but  we  must  go  to  the  apocalypse  to 
get  the  facts  concerning  the  last  two  eons.  Sin  was  put  away  at  the 
end  of  the  first  three  evil  eons,  as  scheduled  on  the  Divine  program. 
This  present  dispensation  is  an  unannounced  number  which  inter- 
rupts the  course  of  Christ's  work,  and  is  ignored  in  the  language  of 
the  text.  "Hath  He  been  manifested  for  the  putting  away  of  sin 
by  His  sacrifice."  This  "sacrifice"  is  an  act  by  which  the  putting 
away  of  sin  is  brought  about.  This  death  of  Christ  was  "once  for 
all,"  even  as  the  death  of  a  man  is  once  for  all,  a  common  death,  in 
which  Christ's  often  dying  has  no  place.  "After  death,"  for  Christ 
and  for  all  dead,  judgment  establishes  the  Universe  on  the  resurrection 
principles  of  the  New  Creation.  In  the  last  two  eons  sin  is  a  past 
issue,  it  cuts  no  figure,  for  Christ  appears  the  second  time  "apart  from 
sin,"  to  establish  righteousness  "apart  from  law."  For  judgment  con- 
cerning sin  and  sins  was  settled  at  the  cross.  Now,  "judgment"  must 
put  everything  in  its  place,  under  the  Headship  of  Christ,  Savior; 
Savior  by  Omnipotence  now,  as  he  was  Savior  by  redemption  at  the 
cross;  redeemed  by  the  Passover  blood  of  the  First-born  from  the 
death  penalty  in  Egypt,  but  also  as  Jehovah  promised,  "I  will  redeem 
you  with  an  outstretched  arm  and  with  great  judgments."  (See  Ex. 
6:6;  Deut.  4:  34;  7:  19;  11 :  2-7;  26:  8;  Ps.  136:  12.)  After  this, 
judgment.  What  is  to  be  this  judgment  when  He  appears?  It  is  apart 
from  sin  to  them  that  wait  for  Him  unto  salvation  (therefore,  wait 
for  Him).    See  II  Tim.  4:  8. 

Heb.  9:  27,  Appointed  to  the  men  [humanity]  once  for  all  to  die, 
and,  after  that,  judgment  [this  is  not  the  judgment  that  the  pre- 
conceived idea  of  the  translator  would  force  upon  it  by  inserting  the 
definite  article,  but  the  idea  of  justice  in  general].  Sin  having  been 
put  away,  the  Cosmos  must  be  adjusted  to  that  fact!  ("After  that," 
meta  touto,  is  general.)  After  death  there  is  no  death,  and  death, 
and  death,  to  be  feared,  any  more  than  Christ  the  sacrifice  must 
furnish  blood,  and  blood,  and  blood,  every  year  (or  at  every  abom- 
inable mass).  So  also  "the  Christ"  (who  is  one  of  "the  men"),  once 
having  been  offered  (not  necessary  to  supply  an  agent,  but  the  Eonian 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  1 99 

Spirit  might  be  considered  such  (vs.  14;  Isa.  53:  12)  to  bear  the  sins 
of  the  many  (Lev.  24:15;  Num.  5:31;  14:34)  and  once  for  all 
shall  appear  a  second  time  without  (reference  to)  sin.  Because  the 
cfoss  settled  that.  If  the  sacrifice  did  not  do  away  with  all  judgment 
for  sin,  then  Christ  appears  the  second  time  to  deal  with  sin.  This 
is  what  is  emphasized  to  these  Hebrews,  that  not  many  times  must 
Christ  be  offered  for  sin,  nor  even  a  second  time,  for  His  second 
appearing  is  apart  from  sin,  even  as  His  righteousness  (Rom.  3:21) 
is  apart  from  law.  There  was  sin  on  Him  at  His  first  appearing, 
but  not  at  His  second.  What  became  of  sin?  Of  the  whole  business 
of  it?  The  cross  was  not  a  partial-payment  afifair,  with  perpetual 
installments  in  the  indefinite  future — "unto  salvation"  (salvation  per- 
fected.) "How  much  to  be  desired,  this  word  from  Heaven,  coming 
apart  from  sin,  not  for  sorrow,  but  for  the  joy  of  salvation!"  says 
Chrysostom. 

Jude  25,  "before  all  the  eons,  and  now,  and  with  all  the  eons." 
This  stops  short  at  the  so-called  eternity. 

Hos.  13:14;  I  Cor.  15:55,  Here  is  the  victory  of  Christ  over 
Death  and  Hades.  Is  He  not  victorious  over  Gehenna,  over  Tar- 
tarus? No,  they  say,  Christ  is  not  victorious  over  our  hell ;  we  cannot 
get  along  without  it. 

Farrar  lists  the  following  as  having  some  bearing  on  the  subject. 
They  refer  to  Divine  mercies: 

Luke  6:  35;  15:  1-3 1;  Isa.  49:  15;  Ps.  103:  1-5;  Jer.  31:20;  Mai. 
3:  17;  Matt.  7:  11;  Ex.  34:6,  7;  Ps.  33:5;  62:  12;  106:  i;  107:1  ; 
118:1-4;  136:1-26;  119:68;  130:4-7;  30:5;  78:38;  86:15; 
II  Cor.  1:3;  Eph,  2:4;  Ps.  139:8;  25:6;  Lam.  3:31-34;  Joel 
2:  13,  14;  Dan.  9:9;  Isa.  43:25;  Neh.  9:  17. 

These  words,  he  says,  have  slight  weight  with  those  whose  souls 
are  hardened  into  scholastic  system.  He  then  gives  the  following, 
which  should  be  considered  as  clear  in  phrase  and  signification,  and 
thus  leading  others  w^hich  are  fewer,  less  clear,  and  allegorical : 

Gen.  3:  15;  12:  3-5;  Ps.  103:  9;  Micah  7 :  18;  Ps.  139:  8;  Lam. 
3:31-33;  Isa.  57:  16;  12:  I ;  26:20;  54:7.  8;  49:9;  45:21,22,23; 
53:  11;  Hos.  6:  i;  14:4;  Micah  7:  i8,  19;  John  1:29;  3:  17,35,42; 
I  John  4:14;  John  12:32;  Luke  9:36;  12:48;  I  John  2:2;  Acts 
3:  21 ;  Eph.  1 :  10;  Phil.  2:  10,  11 ;  Col.  i :  19,  20;  Rom.  8:  19-24; 
5:  12-21 ;  II :  32;  14:  9;  I  Cor.  15:  22;  II  Cor.  5:  19;  I  Tim.  2:4; 
4:  10;  2:  1-6;  Tit.  2:  II,  12;  Heb.  2:  14,  8,  9;  Rev.  5:  13;  21 : 4,  5; 


200  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

22:  3  ;  20:  14  (over  forty  passages).  Others  to  which  he  refers  may 
be  added:  Jas.  2:  13;  Ps.  52:8  {olam  vaed,  the  eon  and  beyond) ; 
I  Peter  4:  6;  3:  19.     (Farrar.) 

Professor  Shedd  calls  attention  to  the  following  passages  also: 

Matt.  10:28,  Fear  him  who  can  destroy  the  soul. 

Matt.  13  :  4-42,  49,  50,  Parables  of  the  Kingdom. 

Matt.  7:2-23,  depart,  I  never  knew  you. 

Luke  12:9,10,  blasphemy  against  the  Holy  Ghost. 

Matt.  23:  16-23,  blind  guides. 

Matt.  26:  24,  Judas. 

Luke  12:  46,  that  servant  will  be  cut  off.     See  R.  V. 

Mark  16:  16,  believeth  not,  shall  be  doomed. 

Matt.  II :  23,  Capernaum,  down  to  Hades. 

John  8 :  21,  Ye  cannot  come. 

John  5  :  28,  resurrection  of  judgment. 

These  are  cited  as,  "of  course,"  decisive,  when  all  of  them  refer 
to  a  time  far  short  of  what  is  called  a  "final  judgment."  None  of 
them  establish  his  contention ;  while  a  much  greater  number  of  texts 
explicitly  teach,  in  accord  with  Col.  i  :  20,  "the  reconciliation  of  the 
Universe."  Of  these  explicit  passages,  the  professor  can  say,  "The 
paucity  of  the  text  that  can  with  any  plausibility  be  made  to  teach 
Universalism."    Is  there  any  paucity  or  uncertainty  about  Col.  i :  20? 

He  calls  attention  to  the  description  of  the  manner  in  which 
Christ  will  discharge  the  office  of  the  "Eternal  Judge."  Shedd  cre- 
ates this  office  out  of  his  own  head,  and  would  install  the  Son  of  God 
in  that  perpetual  humiliation.  Scripture  speaks  in  far  different  lan- 
guage of  the  exaltation  of  Jesus. 

The  following  are  referred  to  as  sentences  pronounced  by  Christ 
as  a  Judge: 

1.  Hewn  down  like  a  tree  and  cast  into  the  fire.     (Matt.  3 :  10.) 

2.  Burnt  up  as  chaff,  as  tares,  as  withered  branches,  in  un- 
quenchable fire.     ( Matt.  3 :  12;  1 3  :  30 ;  John  15:6.) 

3.  Cast  into  a  (the,  Greek)  furnace  of  (the,  Greek)  fire  or  into 
everlasting  fire,  or  fire  prepared  for  the  Devil  and  his  angels.  (Matt. 
13:  50;  25:  41.) 

4.  Cast  into  the  lake  of  (the,  Greek)  fire.     (Rev.  20:  14.) 

5.  Cast  into  the  outer  darkness.     (Matt.  8:  12.) 

6.  Cast  into  the  sea  like  bad  fish.     (Matt.  13:48.) 

7.  Be  destroyed.     (Mark  12: 9.)  > 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  201 

8.  Be  destroyed,  body  and  soul,      (Matt.  10:28.) 

9.  Be  miserably  destroyed.     (Matt.  21 :  41.) 

10.  Be  consumed.     (II  Thess.  2  :  8.) 

11.  Be  lost.     (Matt.  10:  6;  II  Cor.  4:  3.) 

12.  Be  drowned  in  destruction  and  perdition.      (I  Tim.  6:9.) 

13.  Be  ground  to  powder.     (Matt.  21  :  4,  5.) 

14.  Be  rooted  up  like  a  plant.     (Matt.  15:  13.) 

15.  Be  cut  off.     (Rom.  11:22.) 

16.  Be  cut  down  like  a  fig  tree.     (Luke  13:7.) 

17.  Be  cut  asunder.     (Luke  12:  46.) 

18.  Be  a  castaway.     (I  Cor.  9:26.) 

19.  Perish.      (II  Cor.2:i5.) 

20.  Die  the  second  death.     (Rev.  20:  14.) 

And  the  professor  conveys  the  impression  that  these  miscellaneous 
figures,  regardless  of  context  or  discrimination,  should  be  taken  as 
indicating  the  modern  English  Hell  and  its  torments  as  the  sentence 
of  an  unscriptural  "eternal  judge."  They  are  all  connected  with  the 
next  eon  except  two.  Also,  Matt.  3:  12,  fan  in  his  hand;  25:  10, 
foolish  virgins;  25:  19-30,  unprofitable  servant. 

He  solicits  a  careful  reading  of  the  following  passages:  Matt. 
25:31-33.41,46;  Mark  9:  43-48;  8:36;  Luke  9 125;  16:  22,  23. 

All  these  refer  to  the  entrance  of  Messiah  on  his  Millennial  reign, 
but  if  one  does  not  believe  that  Christ  shall  reign  on  the  throne  of 
David  during  the  next  eon,  he  must  use  the  Scriptures  in  this  "un- 
workmanlike" manner.  He  asks,  "Do  these  representations  and  this 
phraseology  make  the  impression  that  the  future  punishment  of  sin 
is  to  be  remedial  or  temporary?  These  passages  have  nothing  to  do 
with  sin.  It  is  a  false  premise.  As  eonian,  dispensational,  chrono- 
logical, and  many  other  Scriptural  distinctions  are  ignored,  including 
the  main  distinction  between  law  and  gospel,  which  is  universal  with 
advocates  of  endless  future  punishment,  most  every  Scripture  quoted 
is  seen  out  of  focus  and  misapplied ;  the  few  here  taken  up  are  samples 
of  the  others. 

Gen.  22:28,  "In  thy  seed  shall  all  families  of  the  earth  be 
blessed."  Another  doctor  says,  "One  has  only  to  reflect  a  moment  to 
see  how  all  families  of  the  earth  have  already  been  blessed  through 
Christ.  The  gospel  of  the  Son  of  God  has  been  proclaimed  in  nearly 
every  nation  under  heaven.  And  wherever  it  has  gone  it  has  brought 
salvation   and  blessing  with  it."     Now  if  you  will  reflect  another 


202  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

moment,  you  will  perceive  not  onl}^  the  stupid  inaccuracy  of  such  a 
statement,  but  a  perversion  of  a  most  important  passage ;  all  to  bolster 
up  the  false  doctrine  that  church  magnates  would  fasten  on  the 
Scripture. 

The  Dean  continues,  "The  future  holds  still  greater  blessings  for 
all  the  families  of  the  earth  through  Israel,  All  the  blessings  of  the 
Millennium  come  through  Christ.  It  is  then  that  this  original 
promise  to  Abraham  will  be  fulfilled  in  a  greater  sense  than  has  been 
yet  realized."  And  is  that  all?  But  look  beyond  into  the  Dean's 
idea  of  hell;  how  many  families  of  the  earth  are  there?  (Why  try" 
to  slip  the  meaning  nations  into  the  word  families?)  (Ps.  78:41, 
they  limited  the  Holy  One  of  Israel.)  The  great  mass  of  humanity 
have  never  heard  of  Abraham  and  his  seed;  they  have  not  rejected 
an  offered  Christ.  They  are  "without  excuse"  as  sinners,  but  though 
ignorant  of  the  fact,  their  sins  are  not  charged  to  their  account. 
What  kind  of  blessing  does  the  promise  to  Abraham  give  all  these 
families?  Wliat  does  the  Dean  say?  He  says,  "Christ  can  save  all. 
He  has  already  redeemed  them  by  His  blood.  The  only  (?)  thing 
standing  in  the  way  of  the  salvation  of  all  men  are  first,  a  knowledge 
of  Jesus  Christ  as  their  Savior,  and  second,  a  willingness  to  accept 
Him  as  such."     See  John  5:  40  and  7:  17. 

Gen.  12:  3;  22:  18;  49:  18,  "waited  for  Thy  salvation."  There 
is  no  offer  of  future  rewards  or  punishments  in  the  Mosaic  stage; 
there  are  visible  present  rewards  rather  than  shadowy  future  ones, 
while  in  Egyptian  religions  future  awards  were  prominent.  Good 
and  evil  were  weighed  in  the  balance  and  thus  the  soul's  fate  was 
determined. 

Enough  has  been  brought  to  view  to  justify  most  serious  challenge 
of  the  current  doctrines  of  eternity  and  future  penalties,  but  there 
are  some  who  insist  that  every  last  expression  on  the  subject  be  cleared 
up.  The  following  are  taken  up,  not  exhaustively,  but  enough  to 
suggest  aspects  that  should  not  be  ignored  if  one  is  a  Bible  searcher; 
if  one  would  be  jealous  of  Scripture  integrity. 

Eonian.  The  adjective  has  importance  in  passages  not  yet 
considered. 

The  Eonian  God  is  the  God  Who  acts  within  the  limits  of  Alpha 
and  Omega,  first  and  last,  in  dealing  with  finite  creatures.  This  is 
no  denial  of  God's  existence  beyond  time  limits.  He  is  none  the  less 
God  because  thus  acting. 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  203 

Mark  3 :  29,  Guilty  of  eonian  sin.  The  rendering  "eternal  sin" 
in  the  sense  of  endless  sin  is  based  on  a  contradictory  use  of  "eonian," 
or,  as  Anderson  puts  it,  on  the  "chameleonic"  uncertainty  of  it.  It 
must  deny  the  finished  work  of  the  cross.  It  must  affirm,  without 
Scriptural  warrant,  that  man's  future  is  decided  by  "self-determina- 
tion" in  his  lifetime.  It  denies  that  God  has  any  grace  for  a  man 
that  dies  impenitent.  It  denies  the  possibility  of  a  man  to  change  his 
will  after  death;  that  is,  his  free-will  is  confined  to  his  natural  life; 
he  cannot  repent  after  death.  To  assert  that  he  can  but  will  not  is 
assertion  only.  It  requires  that  sin  shall  have  a  resurrection  contrary 
to  Luke  20:  36.  The  wills  of  every  saved  man  have  been  changed. 
How?  First,  by  the  act  of  God,  and,  second,  by  the  presentation 
of  a  motive.  They  shall  all  be  taught  of  God.  Why  should  not  all 
come  to  the  knowledge  of  God  under  such  a  Teacher?  "This  is 
eonian  life  that  they  might  know  Thee,  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus 
Christ  whom  Thou  hast  sent."  Destructive  criticism  eliminates  the 
Divine  element  from  consideration,  and  judges  the  Bible  on  human 
visible  evidence  only.  So,  likewise,  men  have  seen  a  carpenter,  a 
teacher,  a  martyr,  but  they  have  dissected  in  imagination  "that  holy 
thing"  and  their  human  eye  has  discovered  no  God.  That  would 
require  the  ej^e  of  faith.  So  "endless  misery"  is  allotted  to  many 
sentient  creatures  by  a  strictly  natural  legal  method.  The  Gospel 
of  God,  the  character  of  the  Divine  dispenser  of  righteousness,  yes, 
even  the  sacrifice  of  Christ,  is  not  to  be  allowed  in  evidence.  They 
claim  that  the  name  above  every  name  is  "Judge."  They  deny  that 
it  is  "Savior."  So  Mark  3 :  29  is  made  an  authority  for  eternal  sin, 
eternal  law,  eternal  death,  and  sin  that  was  too  much  for  the  sin- 
bearer.  But  now  read  the  passage  in  accord  with  the  usage  of  eon 
as  limited.  As  the  Lord  is  talking  to  Jews  to  whom  is  covenanted 
life  for  the  Millennial  eon.  He  tells  them  that  those  of  them  who 
blaspheme  against  the  Holy  Spirit  in  this  present  eon  are  guilty  of 
an  eonian  sin  which  shall  not  be  forgiven  them  in  this  eon  (which 
ends  with  the  great  tribulation),  nor  in  that  which  is  to  come  (the 
thousand  years  of  covenanted  blessing  to  Israel),  but  it  does  not  say 
that  it  was  not  put  away  at  the  cross,  nor  that  the  blessed  experience 
of  forgiveness  will  not  be  theirs  in  the  last  eon,  the  post-Millennial 
one;  much  less  does  it  say  anything  about  forever,  or  eternal.  This 
statement  would  need  no  explanation  to  Jews  whose  hope  for  fifteen 
hundred  years  had  been  the  promise  of  the  Millennial  reign  of  their 


204  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Messiah.  Why  dislocate  Scripture  and  continually  steal  Jewish 
earthly  things  and  apply  them  to  this  present  heavenly  body  of 
Christ?  Does  not  the  "riches  of  the  heavenly  glory"  "exceed"  the 
earthly  Millennial  glory? 

Mark  3 :  29,  R.  V.,  "As  to  which  you  should  remember  that  the 
punishment  must  continue  as  long  as  the  sin  continues.  (Further  than 
this  we  cannot  go,  as  the  Bible  affords  no  light  bej^ond.)"  [That  is 
to  Dr.  Gray,  but?] 

Matt.  25 :  46,  The  Syrian  version  reads,  "These  shall  go  away 
to  the  pain  of  the  olam,  and  these  to  the  life  of  the  olam."  This  oft- 
quoted  passage  is  the  only  place  where  the  actual  English  phrase, 
"eternal"  or  "everlasting  punishment,"  occurs.  It  is  applied  to  a 
so-called  final  great  criminal  assize,  the  day  of  Judgment,  contrary  to 
the  following  facts:  (i)  This  is  declared  to  be  a  judgment  by  the 
Son  of  Man,  as  King.  (2)  It  is  said  that  the  subjects  are  the  living 
nations.  (3)  The  only  test  is  the  attitude  of  Gentiles  to  Jews. 
(4)  The  test  is  confined  to  acts  of  kindness.  (5)  The  award  is  par- 
ticipation in  the  Millennial  reign  of  Messiah  for  one  class,  and  Mil- 
lennial exclusion  and  discipline  for  the  other  class.  (Kidlings.)  (See 
Ezek.,  chapter  34,  sheep  and  sheep.)  (6)  These  two  classes  are  com- 
pared to  sheep  and  goats,  not  to  sheep  and  wolves.  The  goats  are 
clean  animals  and  are  of  value  to  the  shepherd.  They  have  not  the 
gentle  obedience  of  the  sheep,  and  their  independent  character  requires 
discipline.  (Kolasis.)  (7)  This  is  to  be  when  the  Lord  comes  the 
second  time. 

As  to  this  eonian  fire,  it  is  the  unveiled  resurrection  glory  of  the 
Son  of  Man.  Compare  II  Thess.  2:  8,  the  "epiphany  of  His  Parou- 
sia"  destroys  the  Antichrist;  and  Rev.  19:20,  "cast  alive  into  the 
Lake  of  the  Divine  Fire."  These  are  two  aspects  of  the  same  incident. 
This  expression  is  bandied  about  in  such  an  irreverent  way  that  one 
feels  like  apologizing  to  believers  for  using  it,  and  for  humbly  saying, 
"Lead  me  in  Thy  truth  and  teach  me.  Teach  me  Thy  paths,  Thy 
statutes,  Thy  judgments,  to  do  Thy  will." 

"That  Omniscient  Being  who  made  the  statements  respecting  the 
day  of  Judgment  and  the  final  sentence,  that  are  recorded  in  Matt. 
25:31-46,  could  neither  have  believed  nor  expected  that  all  men 
will  eventually  be  holy  and  happy.  To  threaten  with  everlasting 
(eonian)  punishment,  while  knowing  that  the  "goats"  would  ulti- 
mately have  the  same  holiness  and  happiness  as  the  "sheep,"  would 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  205 

have  been  both  falsehood  and  folly.  The  threatening  would  have 
been  false,  for  even  a  long  punishment  would  not  have  justified  Christ 
in  teaching  that  these  experience  the  same  retribution  with  "the  devil 
and  his  angels,"  for  these  were  understood  by  the  Jews  to  whom  He 
spoke  to  be  hopelessly  and  eternally  lost  spirits." — W.  G.  T.  Shedd. 

Rom.  5 :  i8,  Shedd  says  this  "all"  is  severed  from  the  preceding 
verse  in  which  the  "all"  are  described  as  "those  which  receive  abun- 
dance of  Grace  and  of  the  gift  of  righteousness,"  thus  attempting  to 
convey  the  false  impression  that  these  are  less  than  "all,"  which  is 
certainly  contrary  to  context. 

I  Peters:  18-20,  "in-spirit."  This  is  not  the  dative  of  the  instru- 
ment, nor  is  the  contrasted  word,  "in-flesh"  {oapki  and  pneumati)  see 
Winer;  and  the  same  use  of  the  dative  is  in  I  Cor.  7:34;  I  Tim. 
3:  16;  Rom.  1:4;  Col.  2:5;  it  is  the  sphere  of  the  act.  To  encour- 
age the  persecuted,  they  are  told  that  this  is  in-flesh  and  that  they 
are  at  death  to  pass  into  the  sphere  of  spirit.  "Having  gone"  is  a 
local  motion. 

Eph.  4:9,  10,  "Ascent"  involves  previous  "descent." 

Rom.  5:  12-21  limps  if  we  make  the  result  under  the  second  Head 
of  the  human  race  narrower  in  its  range  than  under  that  of  the  first. 
On  the  two  following  pages  will  be  found  this  passage  displayed  so 
that  it  can  be  studied  very  carefully,  as  it  ought  to  be.  The  two 
headships,  that  of  Adam  and  that  of  Christ,  are  set  forth,  showing 
all  evil  under  the  first  to  come  to  an  end  by  Death,  and  the  whole 
creation  new  under  the  Headship  of  Christ,  established  on  resurrec- 
tion ground.  Acting  in  sovereign  grace,  Christ  takes  upon  Himself 
as  Head  all  responsibility  of  all  human  imperfection,  be  it  sin,  igno- 
rance or  unbelief.  The  fifth,  sixth,  seventh  and  eighth  chapters  of 
Romans  show  the  reconciliation  of  the  Adamic  race,  and  Colossians 
asserts  the  reconciliation  of  the  Universe. 


206  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

ROMANS  5:  12-21 
Verse 

12  Therefore, 

As  through  one  man  the  sin  entered  into  the  world, 

and  the  Death  through  the  Sin, 

and  so  the  Death  passed 
Unto  ALL  MEN,  for  that  all  sinned ; — 

13  for  until  Law  sin  was  in   [the]  world;  but  sin  is  not  imputed 

14  when  there  is  no  law;  nevertheless  Death  reigned  from  Adam 
until  Moses,  even  over  those  who  had  not  sinned  after  the  like- 
ness of  Adam's  transgression; 

WHO is  a  type  of THE  COMING  ONE 

(Adam's  Headship)  (Christ's  Headship) 

15  BUT  NOT  (Negative) 
as  the  Fallen-Condition,  So  also  the  Gracious-Condition  ; 
FOR  if, 

by  the  Fallen-Condition 

of  the  ONE  (Man), 

The  Many  died, 

Much  more, 

the  Grace  of  God  and  the  GIFT 
in  Grace  which  is 

of  the  Other  Man,  Jesus  Christ, 
to  the  Many  did  abound. 

16  AND  NOT  (The  Sin,  Negative) 
as  by  One  having  sinned       The  GIFT-Condition 

For  indeed 
GUILT  [was] 

out  of  One  (Fallen-Condition), 
unto  a  State  of  Guiltiness 

But 

The  GIFT  [was] 

out  of  Many  Fallen-Conditions 
unto  a  State  of  Righteousness  ; 


SCRIPTURE   PASSAGES  207 

Verse 

17  for  if,  (The  Penalty) 
by  the  Fallen-Condition  of  the  One, 

The  Death-state  reigned 
through  the  One, 

Much  more, 

Those  receiving  the  overflow  of  the 
Grace  and  the  GIFT  of  Righteousness, 
reign  in  Life 

by  the  Other,  Jesus  Christ; 

18  SO  THEN,  (Conclusion,  Positive) 

as,  By  One  Downfall 
to  ALL  Men 

to  a  state  of  Guilt ; 

SO  ALSO, 

by  One  Rectification, 
to  ALL  Men 

f      .  o  to  righteousness  of  Life : 

19  for  AS 

through  the  Disobedience  (cause) 
of  the  One  Man,  the 

Many  were  made  Sinners;  (result) 
SO  ALSO 

by  the  Obedience  (cause) 
of  the  Other,  the 

Many  will  be  made  Righteous; 

(result) 

20  but  LAW  came  in  incidentally  that  the  FALLEN-CONDI- 
TION might  be  obvious,  yet  where  sin  abounded,  Grace  super- 
abounded  ; 

21  IN  ORDER  THAT 

AS 

The  Sin  reigned 
in  the  Death-state, 

SO  ALSO 

Grace  might  reign 

through  righteousness,  to  Life 
eonian  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord. 
14 


208  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Verse  I2.  This  was  the  instant  effect  of  the  act  of  sin  through 
the  automatic  power  of  the  law.  In  Adam  the  whole  race  was  subject 
to  the  penalty.  So  at  that  moment  the  Death-state  passed  unto  ALL 
Men.  But  at  the  same  time  the  whole  responsibility  was  taken  upon 
Himself  by  the  ''First-born  of  All  Creation"  in  his  official  capacity, 
as  set  forth  in  the  Scripture  teaching  concerning  first-borns.  "The 
wages  of  Sin  is  death"  (and  death  only).  "Christ  died  for  our  sins." 
"We  thus  judge  that  if  One  died  for  the  ALL,  then  the  ALL  died." 
(Rom.  6 :  23  ;  I  Cor.  15:3;  II  Cor.  5:14.  In  view  of  these  Scripture 
statements,  it  should  be  clear  that  as  the  First-born  paid  the  penalty, 
the  death  of  any  human  being  must  be  accounted  for  on  some  other 
ground  than  as  the  penalty  for  sin.  This  is  obvious  in  the  case  of 
Enoch,  who  was  to  see  no  death,  and  in  the  case  of  those  "called 
on  high"  (ano,  Phil.  3:  14)  ;  of  those  "caught  up"  to  meet  the  Lord 
in  the  air  (I  Thess.  4:  17),  and  for  the  millions  of  the  coming  eons 
who  never  die.  If  Enoch  and  these  others  do  not  pay  this  penalty, 
then  the  death  of  Abel  and  that  of  all  the  righteous  who  follow  him 
could  not  be  penal.    That  would  not  be  according  to  justice. 

Are  we  to  accept  tamely  the  idea,  not  baldly  stated,  perhaps,  but 
a  necessary  element  of  the  usual  legal  argument  for  future  penalties, 
that  grace  is  but  a  passive  thing  in  store  if  we  will  but  pluck  up 
determination  to  call  for  it?  Grace  is  the  action  initiated  by  the 
Infinite  Love  and  Wisdom  that  guards  against  danger  to  a  loved 
object.  This  is  a  Love  unchanged  by  any  temporary  attitude  on  the 
part  of  the  ignorant  and  unbelieving.  Love  strong  as  Death,  yea 
stronger, — Love  mightier  than  Sheol. 

13.  It  is  said,  however,  that  this  would  apply  to  the  Adamic 
sin  and  its  consequences  only,  and  not  to  individual  acts  of  the  many. 
But  here  verse  13  tells  us  that  sin  is  not  charged  where  there  is  no 
law.  And  where  there  is  no  law  there  is  no  penalty.  Why  then 
death  from  Adam  on?  Later  teaching  tells  us  that  this  is  Divine 
expediency;  for,  as  we  have  seen,  many  escape  the  experience  of  death. 
If  some  do  experience  dissolution,  it  is  a  "sleep."  "Death  is  ours." 
"Death  is  made  void,"  of  no  effect,  "swallowed  up  by  victory." 
(John  11:  11;  I  Cor.  3:22;  I  Tim.  1:10;  I  Cor.  15:54.)  Rom. 
5:12-21  is  dealing  with  the  headships  of  Adam  and  Christ;  one, 
head  of  the  human  race;  the  other,  having  a  greater  headship,  that 
over  the  universe.  It  is  not  a  question  of  law;  that  is  fully  con- 
sidered elsewhere;  here  it  is  incidental. 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  209 

14.  This  verse  ends  with  the  mention  of  Adam,  who  in  his  place 
of  headship  is  a  type  of  Christ  in  headship. 

But  it  must  be  seen  that  the  first  Adam  is  not  a  full  t^'pe  of  the 
last  Adam  and  the  limitations  are  first  to  be  noted,  (i)  The  One 
Man's  legacy  of  a  state  of  condemnation  and  death  is  far  surpassed 
by  the  riches  of  the  Other's  GIFT. 

(2)  The  guilty  condition  brought  about  by  the  one  sin  is  far  sur- 
passed in  extent  by  the  State  of  Righteousness,  one  great  element  of 
the  GIFT. 

(3)  The  reign  of  Death  resulting  from  the  fallen  condition  of 
the  One  Man  is  more  than  abrogated  by  the  GIFT,  which  is  not  sim- 
ply that  Life  reigns  in  place  of  Death,  but  that  the  donee  reigns  in  life. 

18.  Verses  15,  16,  17  are  negative,  but  verse  18  is  the  positive 
conclusion.  There  is  correspondence  in  the  three  cardinal  points: 
(i)  one  downfall  in  Adam,  one  rectification  in  Christ;  (2)  to  all 
Men  in  both  cases;  (3)  to  a  guilty  state  in  Adam,  to  Righteousness 
of  Life  in  Christ. 

19.  Confirms  this  positive  conclusion.  In  Adam  all  sinners,  in 
Christ  all  righteous;  as  a  result  of  the  one's  disobedience  in  the  one 
case,  and  of  the  other's  obedience  in  the  other. 

20.  The  law  was  incidental,  its  operation  simply  making  the  last 
condition  obvious,  and  displaying  the  superabundance  of  the  reign 
of  Grace  over  the  reign  of  Sin.  Sin  reigned  the  three  hours  during 
which  Christ  was  forsaken.  This  was  not  made  apparent  until  in 
the  penal  death  of  the  First-born  its  reign  was  finished.  For  Sin 
reigned  in  death,  and  Christ  made  Death  of  no  efifect.  No  sin,  what- 
ever it  be,  and  no  abundance  of  sinful  conditions,  however  dreadful, 
past  or  future,  will  ever  bankrupt  the  resources  of  the  Grace  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ,  laid  up  in  the  Love,  the  Power  and  the  Wisdom 
of  God;  Platonism,  Neo-platonism,  and  modern  theology,  falsely 
so-called,  to  the  contrary  notwithstanding. 

Ps.  16:  8,  Acts  2:  27,  For  Thou  wilt  not  leave  my  soul  in  Sheol; 
Neither  wilt  thou  suffer  Thy  Holy  One  to  see  corruption. 

Luke  23:  43,  "this  day  with  Me  in  Paradise."  To  an  Israelite, 
Paradise  was  a  part  of  Hades. 

Matt.  27 :  52,  53,  the  graves  were  opened.  If  believers  now  accept 
this,  they  certainly  did  so  from  the  beginning.  There  was  a  great 
moving  day  in  Hades.  Would  it  be  temporary  only,  shifting  back  to 
old  conditions?    Would  this  incident  remain  but  as  a  memory?    Why 


2IO  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

did  Christ  visit  Hades,  release  captives,  preach  to  imprisoned  angels? 
It  must  have  been  part  of  His  mission. 

Eph.  4:8,  9,  The  readers  of  this  epistle  had  heard  of  Christ's 
descent  into  the  lower  parts  of  the  earth.  They  thought  over  it;  so 
can  we.    We  have  all  the  data  that  they  possessed. 

Ps.  68:  18,  led  captivity  captive,  Old  Testament  saints  captives  in 
Death  and  Hades,  Paul  used  the  phrase,  "lowest-parts  of  the  earth," 
an  antithesis  of  "far  above  all  heavens."  He  might  have  said  Hades. 
(Ps.  9:  17;  63:9.) 

Isa.  44:  23,  Shout!  Ye  lower  parts  of  the  earth.  (Ezek.  26:  20; 
31:  14,  16,  18;  32:  18-24.) 

Meanwhile  his  separate  soul  to  Hades  flew 
The  Receptacles  of  the  Dead  to  view; 
O'er  ghastly  Death  His  triumph  to  proclaim. 
And  make  all  Tophet  tremble  at  his  Name. 

— Bp.  Ken. 

John  12:  32,  Canon  Westcott  says  in  Speaker's  "Commentary," 
"(/rt  panta)  ALL  men:  the  phrase  must  not  be  limited  in  any  way. 
It  cannot  mean  merely  'Gentiles  as  well  as  Jews,'  or  'the  elect,'  or 
'all  who  will  believe.'  We  must  receive  it  as  it  stands  (Rom.  5:  18, 
8:32;  II  Cor.  5:15;  Eph.  1:10;  I  Tim.  2:6;  Heb.  2:9;  I  John 
2:2).  The  remarkable  reading,  'all  things'  {omnia),  points  to  a 
still  wider  application  of  Redemption  (Col.  i :  20)." 

Note  the  absence  of  endless  punishment  from  those  Scriptures 
where  it  would  be  looked  for  in  its  clearest  statement.  (Rom.  2 :  8,  9; 
5:  21 ;  6:  23;  Gal.  5:  21 ;  6:8;  Phil.  3:  18,  19;  I  John  3:  14,  15; 
5:16.)  Paul,  Peter  and  John  make  no  assertion  in  their  epistles 
of  endless  misery  for  sinners  in  the  phj^sical  sense.  This  is,  of  course, 
intentional. 

"There  is  not  one  place  in  Scripture  which  occurs  to  me,"  said 
Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  "where  the  word  death  necessarily  signifies  a  cer- 
tain miserable  immortality  of  the  soul." 

II  Cor.  5:11,  "Consequently,  knowing  how  to  reverence  the  Lord, 
we  persuade  men,  that  we  may  shine  forth  to  God;  and  I  hope  we 
shine  forth  also  to  your  consciences.  Knowing  that  the  fear  of  God 
is  the  principle  of  my  own  life,  I  try  to  persuade  you  that  it  is  fact, 
and  that  I  am  no  hypocrite;  my  sincerity  is  known  to  God  and  I 
strive  to  make  it  known  to  5'ou." 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  211 

Matt.  3 :  7,  "Pharisees — v\ho  hath  warned  you  to  flee  from  the 
wrath  to  come?"  This  has  been  perverted  in  common  with  all  Scrip- 
ture references  to  the  future.  In  disregard  of  context  and  dispensa- 
tional  distinction,  this  has  been  made  to  represent  God  in  a  state  of 
endless  wrath,  and  in  that  wrath  tormenting  human  beings  as  a  pen- 
alty for  their  sins.  Consistent  with  this  there  is  to  be  a  day  of  great 
assize,  when  the  Judge  will  sit  on  the  bench  of  a  criminal  court  and 
all  sinners  will  be  sentenced  to  this  doom.  There  is  much  more,  but 
let  us  here  confine  ourselves  to  this  "coming  wrath"  and  let  us  examine 
the  Scripture  to  see  "if  these  things  are  so."  Let  us  look  for  land- 
marks, for  distinguishing  features  that  will  identify  the  time  and  place 
and  occasion  of  "the  wrath  to  come,"  of  which  Jewish  Pharisees  were 
warned.  ( i )  This  is  the  wrath  of  Messiah  who  was  about  to  come. 
His  act  of  wrath  was  to  consume  the  chaff,  gather  His  wheat,  and 
cleanse   His   threshing  floor.     This   is   distinctly   a   national   affair. 

(2)  It  is  in  the  future,  in  a  harvest  time,  and  therefore  is  not  a  state- 
ment  of    the   general    Divine    attitude   toward    all    unrighteousness. 

(3)  John  the  baptizer  is  proclaiming  that  the  promised  Kingdom  of 
Israel  is  at  hand.  (4)  The  Jews  addressed  were  of  the  party  of  the 
second  part  in  a  covenant  of  which  Jehovah  was  the  party  of  the  first 
part. 

Matt.  25:10,  "The  door  is  shut."  "For  the  lost  there  is  no 
future,  no  history;  they  are  shut  up  to  retrospect.  Man's  conscious 
'Knowledge  of  good  and  evil'  remains,  and  his  knowledge  of  good 
demands  satisfaction.  No  means  for  this  are  within  or  without  him 
in  the  time  between  death  and  resurrection  (or  the  last  eon)  ;  this 
may  (?)  be  described  as  the  'worm'  and  the  'fire,'  but  it  is  the  things 
which  make  him  willing  to  accept  'good'  from  the  only  source  of 
good  when  he  sees  the  opportunity."  Whether  thoughtlessly  or  delib- 
erately ignorant,  the  fact  remains  that  the  "lost"  as  above  described 
have  never  had  one  glimpse  of  "the  good  news  of  God."  Their  con- 
science has  been  exercised  on  "moral"  lines,  but  "godliness"  in  the 
New  Creation  is  an  unknown  doctrine. 

That  he  should  look  in  darkness  and  in  gloom 
Upon  the  good  he  left  and  mourn  his  doom; 
Who  without  hope  live  ever  in  desire. 

— Dante,  "Inferno." 

Harmonize  Ps.  35  :  56  (imprecatory)  and  Luke  23  :  54  ("Father, 
forgive  them").     The  Dean  very  properly  says,  "The  Key  to  these 


212  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

Psalms  is  their  Millennial  application,"  But  this  recognition  of  dis- 
pensational  distinctions  would  have  been  the  key  to  the  punishment 
question,  which  is,  however,  treated  in  a  very  different  way,  for  the 
reason  that  the  arbitrary  fiat  concerning  endless  punishment  must 
stand. 

Do  men  of  God  exhort  us  to  exceed  Christ  in  a  zeal  for  justice, 
and  in  manifestation  of  mercy?  Was  God  satisfied  with  the  Right- 
eousness of  the  Universe,  redeemed  by  blood  at  the  cross,  and  to 
be  delivered  by  the  powers  of  resurrection  with  all  the  Divine  re- 
sources of  Wisdom  and  grace?  And  must  man  demand  retributive 
justice  in  hell  for  that  which  was  declared  righteous  by  resurrection? 
Alas  yes,  for  many  preachers  have  said,  "If  there  is  no  hell,  there 
ought  to  be  one  for"  ? — for  whom  if  not  for  all  ?  Why,  they  say,  for 
the  Christ-rejectors,  if  not  for  the  wickedest  ones.  Can  a  preacher 
who  himself  was  saved  by  grace  insist  upon  law  for  those  he  is  preach- 
ing to  if  they  do  not  repent  upon  his  preaching?  They  ought  to  go 
out  and  sit  with  Jonah,  as  Jehovah  took  him  to  task.  Jehovah: 
"Is  it  well  for  thee  to  be  grieved  for  the  gourd?"  Jonah:  "It  is  well 
for  me  to  be  grieved  to  death."  Jehovah :  "You  are  sorry  for  the 
gourd  that  you  did  not  cultivate,  nor  cause  to  grow.  It  was  the 
product  of  a  night  and  perished  in  a  night.  Therefore,  should  I  not 
have  pity  for  Nineveh — that  Great  City,  which  has  in  it  more  than 
ten  times  twelve  thousand  of  mankind  who  do  not  know  their  right 
hand  from  their  left,  besides  multitudes  of  animals."  Jonah  did  not 
answer.  What  do  you  say?  Jonah  was,  as  he  says,  "a  Hebrew.  I 
reverence  the  LORD  GOD  of  Heaven  who  made  the  Sea  and  the 
Land."  We  know  those  Pharisaic  chosen  people  looked  upon  the 
uncovenanted  Gentiles  of  Nineveh  as  dogs:  even  Paul  calls  them 
sinners  of  the  Gentiles.  What  is  the  value  of  the  election  if  the  elect 
cannot  look  down  upon  the  non-elect  and  say,  "I  am  holier  than 
thou"?  They  knew  not  the  Divine  Love  which  said,  and  followed 
His  own  saying,  "He  that  would  be  great  among  you  let  him  serve." 
Therein  consists  the  greatness  of  all  Bible  "elect."  That  is  what  they 
are  for — "that  in  thee,"  elect  Abraham,  "all  families  of  the  earth 
should  be  blest."  But  consider  Jehovah  (no,  he  is  not  "obligated")  ; 
He  says,  "Should  I  not  have  pity?"  Jonah  did  not  make  the  gourd, 
but  the  souls  of  Nineveh,  man  and  beast,  non-elect  dogs,  were  precious 
to  Jehovah  as  His  own  handiwork,  objects  of  love  in  their  creation, 
preservation  and  destiny.    Does  He  love  the  creation  of  which  He  has 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  213 

taken  the  place  as  representative  Head?     Will  He  be  the  same  j^es- 
terday,  to-day,  but  different  for  the  coming  eons? 

Ps.  103:9,  He  will  not  contest  without  ceasing,  nor  keep  his 
anger  for  the  eon. 

Ps.  30:6,  His  anger  is  but  for  a  moment,  but  His  kindness  re- 
mains for  a  life. 

Rom.  11:26,  And  so  all  Israel  shall  be  saved.  "Paul  does  not 
mean  by  this,  every  Israelite  that  ever  lived.  He  is  referring  to  the 
nation  of  Israel  as  it  shall  be  existing  on  the  earth  in  the  day  of 
which  he  speaks."  "This  does  not  mean  what  it  says,"  is  a  vicious 
treatment  of  Scripture,  and  a  resort  to  it  is  at  least  a  confession  that 
it  says  what  the  contestant  would  deny. 

Here  is  Dean  Gray's  testimony,  in  accord  with  the  truth.  "Thank 
God  that  Christ's  death  paid  the  penalty.  See  Acts  13 :  38,  39;  Rom. 
8:1;  Gal.  3:13,  and  many  other  places." 

"Christ  bore  the  sins  of  the  whole  world  upon  the  cross."  (Gray.) 
This  a  Scriptural  testimony ;  why  not  accept  it  at  its  full  value  ? 

I  Cor.  15:22,  "in  Christ  all" — no  notice  is  taken  of  the  fact  in 
verse  23  that  not  all  men  are  "in  Christ,"  the  clause  "they  that  are 
Christ's"  at  his  coming  implying  that  there  are  some  who  are  not 
"Christ's"  at  his  coming.  (Shedd.)  Would  He  deny  the  resurrec- 
tion of  all?  This  is  forcing  a  point.  It  is  not  an  effort  to  get  the 
meaning  of  the  passage.  He  denies  the  pre-millennial  "coming"  of 
Christ  and  views  the  words  out  of  their  direct  application.  Some 
are  not  Christ's  at  His  coming,  but  that  is  not  by  any  means  saying 
that  they  will  not  be  His  later. 

Eph.  1:21,  "The  God  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Father  of 
Glory,  put  the  Universe  in  subjection  under  the  feet  of  Christ,  and 
gave  Him  to  be  Head  over  the  Universe  to  that  church  which  is  His 
body ;"  not  to  the  church  in  the  wilderness,  not  to  the  Jewish  Church 
of  Matt.  18,  nor  the  Millennial  church  of  Matt.  16,  nor  to  the  Pen- 
tecostal Hebrew  Church  of  Acts,  certainly  not  to  that  church  from 
which  the  prophetic  soul  of  Jacob  shrank  back  with  the  cry,  "O  my 
soul!  Come  not  thou  into  their  church."  "The  church  which  is 
His  body"  is  of  this  dispensation  only,  chosen  in  Christ  before  the 
wreck  of  the  first  cosmos,  not  made  known  by  any  other  than  Paul 
the  prisoner,  not  a  visible  organization,  having  no  recognizable  begin- 
ning before  the  time  of  Paul's  first  appearance  in  Rome.  It  is  the 
one  spiritual  perfect  organized  body  of  believers. 


214  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

II  Cor.  4:  18,  The  things  seen,  temporary;  the  things  not  seen, 
eonian.  The  eonian  blessings  of  the  Messianic  reign  of  one  thousand 
years  are  the  goal  of  covenanted  Israel,  and  of  uncovenanted  Gentiles 
who  pass  through  the  forty-two  months  of  wrath.  The  witness  for 
Christ  endures  something  less  in  his  lifetime  than  Paul  did  in  his, 
but  the  sufferings  of  Paul's  thirty  years  were  not  worthy  to  be  com- 
pared with  the  one  thousand  years  of  eonian  blessing.  The  suffering 
ended,  the  eonian  life  was  to  continue;  sempiternity  is  not  considered 
in  this  passage.  It  is  only  dogmatic  assertion  to  say  that  the  contrast 
to  transient  is  endless.  The  transient  tribulations  of  a  lifetime  of 
seventy  years  but  work  out  an  unsurpassing  amount  of  eonian  glor}\ 
That  glory  was  the  Millennial  reign  which,  up  to  that  time,  was  the 
goal  of  the  Divine  promises,  and  what  the  ones  addressed  were  look- 
ing for  (the  heavenly  glory  of  the  body  of  Christ  was  not  revealed 
until  later).  Why  insist  on  the  necessity  of  eternity  as  the  contrast 
in  mind? 

I  Tim.  1 :  10,  Abolished  death!  Do  you  cry  "Victory!"  or  do 
j'^ou  minimize  this  act?  Made  death  nothing?  Then  it  is  a  penalty 
no  longer,  for  in  Christ  and  His  Headship  the  whole  penalty  was 
exacted  and  righteousness  established.  Darkness  is  nothing;  bring 
in  "the  light  that  lighteth  all  men,"  and  it  flees.  They  comprehend 
it  not?  But  they  will!  So  death  is  now,  since  resurrection  at  least, 
a  nullity.  Resurrection  annihilated  it.  And  as  Israel  can  now  have 
no  Messiah  other  than  on  resurrection  ground,  so  the  whole  new  crea- 
tion can  have  no  other  Head  than  the  Son  of  God  in  resurrection. 
And  everyone  that  experiences  resurrection  is  a  son  of  God.  (Luke 
20:  36.) 

Matt.  12:31,32,  Does  this  mean  that  there  may  be  forgiveness 
in  the  world  to  come  for  sins  other  than  the  blasphemy  against  the 
Holy  Ghost?  Ans. — "Certainly  not,  for  then  the  teaching  would 
contradict  the  whole  trend  of  Scripture.  That  trend  is  all  in  one 
direction;  viz.,  that  man  seals  his  future  eternally  by  his  acceptance 
or  non-acceptance  of  Jesus  in  the  present  life."  (Gray.)  Advocates 
of  doctrine  in  controversy  contradict  each  other,  and  both  sides  appeal 
to  "the  whole  trend  of  Scripture."  Such  generalities  should  be 
ignored. 

Rom.  9 :  28,  "For,  completing  a  design,  and  completing  it  right- 
eously, the  Lord  will  perfect  his  intention  in  the  earth"  (design,  mat- 
ter, logos;  completing,  ending,  ending  altogether,  sunteleo;  cutting 


SCRIPTURE   PASSAGES  215 

short,  suntemno).  There  will  be  no  surplus  and  no  lack,  no  patches, 
no  waste. 

Matt.  13  :  39,  40,  49 ;  24 :  3 ;  28 :  20 ;  Heb.  9 :  26.  These  passages 
have  "the  end  of  the  eon."    How  could  it  be  the  end  of  eternity? 

I  Cor.  13 :  10,  When  that  which  is  perfect  is  come. 

Luke  13  :  32,  And  the  third  day  I  shall  be  perfected. 

John  4:  34,  My  meat  is  that  I  should — finish  His  work  and — . 

John  5 :  36 ;  17:4;  Phil,  i :  6,  mention  a  completed  work. 

Luke  1 :  45,  There  shall  be  a  performance  of  the  things  spoken. 

Heb.  12:  2,  Jesus,  Author  and  finisher. 

In  contrast  to  this,  the  temporary  character  of  the  law  is  seen  in 
Heb.  7:19.  "For  the  law  perfected  nothing!"  And  Luke  14:  29, 
The  man  who  began  to  build  but  was  not  able  to  finish  is  mocked  at. 
To  make  the  wicked  suffer  torment,  and  at  the  same  time  be  made 
to  bow  the  knee  by  main  force,  does  not  look  like  a  consummation 
to  be  desired,  nor  admired.  All  God's  work  is  perfect.  There  is  no 
waste-basket,  no  hell-hole,  for  useless  scraps. 

Phil.  2:9-11,  Jesus,  Joshua  in  Hebrew,  lesous  in  Greek.  "I  am 
Savior"  is  the  English  meaning.  Salvation  will  at  last  be  the  pre- 
eminent idea  to  be  recognized  by  every  intelligent  creature  in  spiritual 
worship  when  His  Omega  is  reached.  There  may  be  feigned  worship 
in  the  next  eon  under  the  Son  of  man,  but  forced  worship  has  never 
been  one  of  God's  methods,  and  the  thought  is  foreign  to  Scripture. 
We  sometimes  see  the  rather  heartless  argument  that  God  is  under 
no  obligation  to  save  all  or  even  one  sinner.  But  here  is  the  attitude 
that  God  himself  records,  "I  have  loved  you,"  saith  Jehovah,  "with  an 
eonian  love."  "I  will  love  them  freely."  And  so  we  have  this  same 
word  applied  to  tabernacle  w'orship.  "Everyone  whom  His  spirit 
made  willing, — whose  heart  made  them  willing."  Ex.  35:21-29, 
this  was  at  Sinai;  I  Chron.  29:  9-17,  this  was  for  the  temple  that 
David  prepared  for;  Ezra  2 :  68 ;  7 :  13,  16,  another  temple.  The  man- 
ner of  offering  is  prescribed  in  Leviticus,  but  the  offerings  were  volun- 
tary. (Lev.  7:  16;  22:  18,  21,  23  ;  23:  38.)  And  see  Ps.  no:  3,  thy 
people  shall  be  willing;  Ps.  119:  108,  the  free-will  offerings  of  my 
mouth.  It  may  be  said  that  "bow  the  knee"  is  outward  form,  but  the 
form  is  an  expression  of  true  worship  on  the  part  of  the  Celestials  and 
Terrestrials;  why  should  it  be  called  "forced"  on  the  part  of  the  Sub- 
terrenes?  But  "bow  the  knee"  and  "worship"  are  the  English  render- 
ings of  the  same  original  words,  and  on  the  part  of  spirits  it  would 


21 6  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

be  figurative  for  worship.  This  argument  is  not  necessary  for  some, 
and  to  them  apology  is  due.  But!  Can  anyone  seriously,  not  to  say 
spiritually,  uphold  the  idea  that  the  Savior  will  desire  a  mockery  of 
outward  form?  Recall  these  words,  "The  soldiers  led  Him  away 
within  the  court,  which  is  called  the  Palace,  where  they  call  together 
the  whole  Cohort  [five  hundred  in  number]  ;  and  they  arrayed  Him 
in  a  purple  robe  and  crowned  Him  with  a  crown  of  plaited  thorns, 
and  began  to  salute  him  with  Hail,  King  of  the  Jews!  while  at  the 
same  time  they  kept  striking  Him  upon  the  head  with  a  stick,  spitting 
upon  Him,  and  bowing  their  knees,  worshiped  Him."  (Mark 
15:  16-19.)  Would  there  be  any  less  mockery  in  the  hearts  of  all 
those  so-called  "self-determined,  finally  impenitent,  rejectors  of  the 
Love  of  God  and  the  Grace  of  Christ  Jesus,"  if  they  were  physically 
made  to  bow  the  knee?  And  yet  this  is  the  contention  of  those  who 
deny  the  reconciliation  of  the  Universe  of  Col.  i :  20,  and  the  blessed 
character  of  the  "worship"  of  the  Savior  in  Phil.  2:9-11.  And  to 
accept  these  two  passages  for  their  full  value  is  labeled  "Damnable 
doctrine  from  the  pit  of  Hell"  in  a  publication  called  "Grace,  Gospel 
Tidings"  (March,  1920).  What  is  the  "grace"  of  this  language? 
or  the  "gospel"  of  endless  torment?  or  the  "tidings"  which  is  based 
on  erroneous  translation? 

Parables  are  all  dispensational;  when  this  is  not  seen,  they  are 
misinterpreted. 

Matt.  5:21,  "Thou  fool,"  a  crime  for  Bethdin,  the  local  court 
(Deut.  16:  18).  The  angry  man  is  as  guilty  as  the  murderer. 
"Worthless,"  as  guilty  as  if  under  a  sanhedrin  sentence.  "Rebel," 
Deut.  21:  18-20;  Num.20:  10.  This  is  like  a  crime  punishable  by 
death,  with  the  disgrace  added  of  burial  refused,  and  the  body  cast 
into  Gehenna.  (Lev.  20:  14;  Eccl.  6:3.)  To  be  thus  angry  in  three 
degrees  is  like  murder  whose  punishment  is  described  for  the  first, 
second  and  third  degree  (H  Kings  9:  35  ;  Isa.  14:  19,  20;  Jer.  22:19). 
This  was  Jewish  law  for  the  outer  man,  but  what  Christ  said  was  for 
the  character  of  the  inner  man.     (Parallel  passage,  Mark  9:  41-50.) 

Luke  16:  19-31,  (i)  A  parable,  one  of  a  series  of  five.  (2)  Infer- 
ences here  must  not  deny  other  inferences  equally  possible.  (3)  It 
refers  to  the  next  eon,  and  not  to  any  final  state. 

The  Unjust  Steward  has  been  made  to  refer  to  ( i )  Pharisees, 
(2)  Publicans,  (3)  Judas,  (4)  Pilate,  (5)  Satan,  (6)  Paul,  (7)  The 
Lord.    Gal.  3:19,  20  has  had  three  hundred  different  interpretations. 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  217 

Here  is  a  pamphlet  by  the  Dean  of  a  large  Bible  Institute  (191 8). 
On  Matt.  13 :  41,  42  we  read,  "Here  we  have  the  interpretation  of  the 
parable.  Every  other  figure  is  explained  by  the  literal  fact  that  it 
represents,  but  in  the  interpretation  we  have  'fire.'  In  the  light  of 
these  facts  we  cannot  deny  the  literal  fire  of  hell  without  doing  vio- 
lence to  every  reasonable  law  of  interpretation." 

The  parable  sets  forth  one  aspect  of  the  Millennial  Kingdom ; 
that  is,  the  exclusion  from  it  of  lies  and  their  fruit.  The  furnace 
where  the  fire  burns  is  limited  in  place  and  in  time.  It  is  a  judgment 
by  the  Son  of  Man,  and  is  thus  limited  to  the  coming  eon ;  the  "gath- 
ering out"  is  seen  in  the  Unveiling.  The  fire  is  the  literal  Divine 
fire  right  enough,  but  the  passage  should  not  be  perverted  to  mean  the 
final  hell-fire  of  the  Dean's  Institute.  It  seems  to  some  that  a  reason- 
able law  of  interpretation  is  found  in  Phil,  i :  9,  "distinguish  things 
that  differ."  This  particular  Dean  is  notorious  for  ignoring  many 
distinctions  of  the  Bible.  He  identifies  Gehenna  as  the  modern  hell, 
but  Gehenna  is  not  endless.  He  makes  believers  of  this  present  dis- 
pensation of  the  heavenlies  identical  with  earthly  Israel,  and  partakers 
of  their  pentecostal  gifts.  He  calls  the  church  a  kingdom.  But  in 
this  he  only  utters  ideas  common  to  church  members. 

Rom.  1 1 :  26,  "All  Israel  shall  be  saved,"  is  not  satisfied  by  the 
conversion  of  a  few,  or  even  of  many  IsraehV^'^  in  some  future  gen- 
eration. Even  those  who  stumbled  at  the  Rock  of  offense  had  not 
so  stumbled  as  to  fall  irretrievably.  Had  not  Messiah,  their  kingly 
National  Head,  praj'ed,  "Father,  forgive  them"?  Can  we  think  of 
that  prayer  as  denied,  and  of  some  of  them  suffering  endless  punish- 
ment for  sin,  or  even  for  that  very  act  of  rejection  and  crime?  that 
so-called  sin  of  unbelief,  when  we  read  also  that  all  were  concluded 
in  unbelief  that  He  might  have  mercy  upon  all?     (Rom.  11 :  32.) 

John  5 :  28,  29,  "Here  the  resurrection  of  good  and  bad  is  for  the 
purpose  of  judgment  regarding  the  things  done  before  their  bodies 
were  laid  in  the  grave."  (Torrey.)  This  is  vague.  Writers  of  this 
school  of  eschatology  make  no  reference  to  a  harmonious  doctrine  of 
the  eons,  which  652  Scriptural  passages  demand  before  dogmatic 
statements  are  in  order.  That  "eon"  may  be  rendered  "age"  they 
do  here  and  there  "admit,"  since  the  1901  revision  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment has  noted  its  meaning  in  the  margin  forty-eight  times,  "Greek, 
Age." 


2l8  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

John  5 :  27,  The  judgment  is  by  "the  Son  of  Man."  This  estab- 
lishes it  as  Millennial.    The  terms  are  simple, 

these  that  practiced  the  good 

to  a  life  resurrection, 
those  that  did  the  evil 

unto  a  judgment  resurrection. 

The  "life"  is  the  eonian  life  so  frequently  mentioned  by  John. 
The  "judgment"  is  the  eonian  judgment,  after  which  they  come 
before  the  Great  White  Throne.  "The  good"  and  "the  evil,"  both 
have  the  definite  article;  therefore  something  special,  not  general. 
This  is  another  statement  of  proceedings  described  in  Matt.  25 :  31-46, 
preliminary  to  the  eonian  reign  of  Messiah,  Son  of  Man. 

John  8:  21,  "This  is  even  more  decisive  than  the  last,  'Ye  shall 
die  in  your  sin.  Where  I  am  going,  you  are  unable  to  follow^.'  Here 
our  Lord  distinctly  declares  that  the  question,  whether  men  shall  come 
to  be  with  Him  or  not,  depends  on  what  they  do  before  they  die ;  that 
if  they  die  impenitent,  if  they  die  in  their  sins,  that  whither  He  goes 
they  cannot  come."  As  the  Dean  professes  to  be  Millennarian,  it 
might  be  supposed  that  he  had  Scriptural  ideas  of  the  reign  of  the 
Messiah,  King  of  Israel,  and  that  he  distinguished  between  kingdom 
and  church.  These  Pharisaic  Jews  that  die  rejecting  Messiah  cannot 
come  into  the  Millennial  kingdom  that  is  promised.  This  is  not  final 
destiny. 

I  Cor.  11:3;!  Tim.  2 :  11,  15,  Headship.  The  head  of  the  woman 
is  the  man.  When  the  woman  was  deceived,  the  man  recognized  the 
responsibility  of  headship  and  so  we  read, 

"In  Adam's  fall 
We  sin-ned  all," — 

not  in  Eve's.  It  is  in  Adam  that  all  die,  but  Eve  was  so  named  be- 
cause she  was  to  be  the  mother  of  all  living.  Adam  might  have  repu- 
diated the  woman's  act  and  condemned  her  to  die,  according  to  law 
and  precedent.  But  while  justice  demands  vindication,  headship  can 
act  in  sovereign  love  and  assume  all  the  responsibility  and  pay  all 
the  penalty.  We  can  imagine,  from  the  fossil  evidence  of  pre-Adamite 
death,  that  the  "Christed  Cherub"  of  Ezekiel  28  shirked  this  gracious 
act  and  allowed  his  creatures  to  die  alone.  "The  head  of  every  man 
is  Christ."    What  course  will  the  head  of  Adam  take, — that  of  the 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  219 

unreliable  Seraph  or  that  of  the  inferior  creature,  man?  The  answer 
is  the  gospel,  "Him  who  knew  no  sin.  He  made  to  be  sin  for  our 
sakes,  so  that  we  might  become  the  righteousness  of  God  in  Him." 
(H  Cor.  5:21.)  Thus  the  woman  who  was  in  the  place  of  death, 
relieved  by  the  act  of  her  husband  in  his  headship,  becomes  the  mother 
of  all  living.  The  divine  principle  is  thus  established  that  all  creature 
life  shall  be  out  of  death.  The  old  Adam  dies,  and  man  is  to  be  per- 
petuated on  a  resurrection  basis.  The  resurrection  seed  that  is  to 
be  out  of  the  woman  shall  bruise  the  Serpent's  head ;  and  shall  any 
mother  of  a  child  be  lost? — No,  she  shall  be  saved  through  her  child- 
bearing  if  they  (her  children)  continue  in  faith  and  love  and  sanc- 
tification  with  sobriety.  We  need  not  stumble  over  this  "if;"  let  us 
go  higher.  The  Head  of  the  man  is  Christ;  the  Head  of  Christ  is 
God.  If  the  woman  is  saved  for  a  resurrection  purpose,  so  the  race 
is  saved  through  the  act  of  Christ  in  Headship,  and  Christ  obedient 
unto  death  is  saved  because  God  is  His  Head. 

This  might  be  put  in  other  words  from  a  different  viewpoint. 
"God  would  never  go  back  on  His  Word,  Whom  He  sent  forth  with 
a  purpose.  That  Eve  should  escape  the  penalty  and  bear  a  living  child 
was  evidence  that  Jehovah  had  met  the  responsibility  of  His  Headship. 
"All  things  are  out  of  God,"  and  when  the  Son  "humbled  Himself — 
even  to  the  death  of  the  cross,"  the  Divine  Head  did  not  leave  His 
soul  in  Hades,  nor  suffer  His  body  to  see  corruption.  He  raised  Him 
up  to  take  the  Headship  of  the  new  Creation  as  First-born  from  the 
dead.  This  is  gospel,  the  gospel  facts  on  which  the  gospel  of  God 
concerning  His  Son  is  based.  The  natural  man  does  not  believe  it. 
How  can  he?  Natural  Religion  never  dreamed  it.  Faith  alone  can 
apprehend  it.  The  natural  man's  conscience  of  sin  denies  it;  his  in- 
tuitive sense  of  justice  makes  him  all  his  life  in  bondage  to  the  fear 
of  death.  Ignorant  of  gospel,  there  is  a  fearful  looking  forward  to 
judgment.  Christ  has  become  responsible  for  their  sins,  has  even 
become  sin  for  them,  but  they  remain  as  ignorant  and  unbelieving  as 
Saul  of  Tarsus.  But  when,  in  grace,  a  sinner  comes  to  know  some- 
thing of  God  beyond  Natural  Religion,  he  experiences  the  Life  out  of 
death  that  is  in  Christ.  To  the  covenant  people  this  is  the  Millennial 
goal  of  eonian  life  as  promised.  But  there  is  "life  in  Christ"  outside 
of  that  covenant  and  in  the  last  eon,  that  is  also  called  eonian  life. 
It  goes  beyond  the  eons,  but  there  is  no  Scripture  term  to  describe 
what  is  beyond.    The  Bible  simply  says,  "For  the  eon  and  beyond." 


220  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

It  is  Christ  life,  not  chronological  life ;  a  life  in  fellowship  with  God ; 
its  duration  is  incidental.  This  does  not  deny  the  endlessness  of  God ; 
it  simply  confesses  that  the  idea  is  beyond  our  present  expression  and 
beyond  our  present  concern. 

As  to  goodness  and  badness,  Adam  was  "good"  in  his  place;  the 
Anointed  Cherub  of  Ezek.  28  was  "full  of  wisdom  and  perfect  in 
beauty."  Both  knew  but  little  of  God  and  were  ignorant  of  much. 
Their  natural  knowledge,  with  spiritual  ignorance,  "puffed  them  up." 
In  the  created  righteousness  of  Adam,  he  came  short  of  the  knowl- 
edge of  God  and  "the  righteousness  of  God."  This  kno\vledge  is 
imparted  by  the  Son.     (Matt,  1 1 :  27.) 

"The  Reverend  Robert  A.  Torrey,  D.  D.,  Dean  of  the  Bible 
Institute  of  Los  Angeles,"  writes  in  "The  Exact  Truth  Regarding 
an  Eternal  Hell,"  page  43 :   "I  once  thought  and  believed  and  taught 
.     ,     ,     that  the  Bible  clearly  taught  that  all  men   would  accept 
Christ  and  be  saved,"     (He  also  says  that  if  he  could  think  so  now, 
and  "find  one  passage  that  so  taught,"  it  would  be  the  happiest  day 
of  his  life;  and  on  page  40  he  says  he  has  been  "searching  diligently 
for  such  a  passage  for  nearly  forty  years,  and  has  not  found  it,  and  it 
cannot  be  found.")      He  further  writes,  on  page  43:    "I  held  and 
taught     .     .     ,     ultimate  universal   salvation   years  before    [certain 
Bible  teachers  mentioned]   were  ever  heard  of,  indeed,  nearly  forty 
years  ago,     I  was  familiar  with  the  arguments  that  they  now  urge, 
and  other  arguments  which  they  do  not  seem  to  know,  but  which  were 
to  me  more  decisive  than  those  they  now  urge."    Philosophical  human 
arguments  may  well  be  left  unmentidned  when  considering  what  the 
Word  of  God  actually  says.     If  the  Rev.  Dean,  D.  D.,  can  adduce 
Scripture   that   is   more   decisive   than    Col.  i :  20,    and   those   listed 
below,  it  would  seem  to  be  incumbent  upon  him  to  designate  it  and 
thus  give  any  light  which  he  may  have  had.     Or  is  every  protester 
against  eternal  torment  for  sin,  such  as  he  himself  was  forty  years 
ago,  to  be  left  without  the  pale  of  brotherly  consideration  ? 
Acts  3:  21,  Restitution  of  things  prophesied. 
John  1 :  29,  taketh  away  the  sin  of  the  world. 
John  3:17,  sent — that  the  world  might  be  saved. 
John  3 :  35,  all  things  in  the  hand  of  the  Son, 
John  4 :  42,  Savior  of  the  world, 
John  6:  37-39,  All  that  the  Father  giveth  Me, 
John  12:  32,  I  will  draw  all  to  Myself. 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  221 

I  John  2:  I,  2,  for  the  sins  of  the  whole  world. 

I  John  4:  14,  the  Savior  of  the  world. 

Eph.  I  :  10,  all  things  under  Christ's  headship. 
Col.  1 :  20,  Christ  reconciler — universal. 

Rom.  14:9-11,  Lord  both  of  dead  and  living,  every  tongue  con- 
fesses.    No  man  liveth  unto  himself,  and  no  man  dieth  unto  himself. 

II  Cor.  5:  19,  sins  not  charged  to  the  world. 
I  Tim.  4:  10,  Savior  of  all  men. 

I  Tim.  2 :  1,3,6,  will  have  all  men  to  be  saved. 

Rom.  9:11,  All  Israel  saved,  then  fulness  of  Gentiles? 

Rom.  II  :  32,  mercy  upon  all. 

Rom.  5:  i-ii,  12-21,  All  saved  under  the  Headship  of  Christ. 

I  Cor.  15:  20-28,  All  subdued,  voluntarily,  gladly,  that  God  may 
be  all  in  all. 

Why  take  the  bloom  from  these  Divine  words?  Why  abate 
their  generous  force  ?  The  Jews  were  elect  and  ordained  to  bless  the 
Gentile  nations.  In  Acts  22:  21,  Paul,  speaking  in  their  temple  to 
this  elect  people,  was  listened  to,  for  he  spoke  in  Hebrew ;  but  when  he 
said,  "The  Lord  sent  me  unto  the  Gentiles,"  their  race  prejudice 
broke  out.  "Aw^ay  with  such  a  fellow  from  the  earth !"  There  is  a 
chosen  company  now,  "the  body"  of  Christ  for  the  heavens,  elect 
to  go  and  minister  blessing  to  the  non-elect.  Again  we  hear  some  of 
these,  proud  of  their  special  salvation,  saying,  "Away!"  Well,  dear 
fellow-member,  we  shall  all  soon  be  "away!"  We  listen  for  that 
"calling  up  on  high."  There  are  many  more  passages  noted  in  various 
connections  in  this  book  that  would  seem  to  be  what  the  brother  has 
been  searching  for,  though  he  asserts  "it  cannot  be  found,"  notably 
Rom.  5:  12-21,  on  subsequent  pages. 

The  thousand  years  of  Rev.  20 :  6,  7  is  called  "the  coming  eon" 
(not  the  coming  eternity).     Mark  10:  30;  Luke  18:  30;  20:  35. 

Luke  1 :  32,  shall  not  cease  throughout  the  eons. 

Luke  1 :  55,  promised  to  Abraham,  and  his  heir  for  the  eon. 

John  6:51,  if  anyone  should  eat  of  this  bread  he  will  live  for  the 
eon.     John  6:  58;  8:51,52;  11:26. 

John  8:  35;  12:34,  servant  does  not  abide  for  the  eon,  but  the 
Son  does. 

John  10:28,  The  Shepherd  says,  I  give  to  my  sheep  eonian  life 
(one  thousand  years). 


222  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS    OVER   ALL 

John  14:  16,  The  Comforter,  to  continue  with  the  Twelve  for 
the  eon. 

II  Cor.  9:9,  His  righteousness  will  endure  for  the  eon.  (Ps. 
112:9.) 

Heb.  5:  6;  6:  20;  7:  17,  21,  24,  28,  A  priest  for  the  eon  (the  next 
one  only). 

Time  comes  into  being  with  the  heavenly  bodies  whose  cycles 
measure  it.     God  is  immeasurable. 

The  progressive  character  of  God's  program  in  the  revelation  of 
His  Truth  should  not  be  ignored. 

Matt.  1 1 :  20-24,  If  tbe  mighty  works  had  been  done  in  Sodom 
which  were  done  in  Capernaum,  it  would  have  remained  until  this 
day.  So  also  Chorazin,  Bethsaida,  and  the  cities  where  the  Twelve 
announced  the  Kingdom  near  and  healed  the  sick.  Luke  10:  12  says, 
It  shall  be  more  tolerable  in  that  day  for  Sodom;  "that  day"  being 
the  Day  of  Wrath  at  the  Lord's  second  coming.  Why,  if  necessary 
to  that  salvation  that  the  Lord  desired  for  them, — why  did  not  Sodom 
see  the  mighty  works  necessary  for  that  end?  And  again  (Matt. 
13:  10-15)  Parables  were  used  to  hide  truth  from  certain  Jerusalem 
rulers,  "lest  haply  they  should  perceive  with  their  eyes,  and  hear  with 
their  ears,  and  understand  with  their  heart,  and  should  turn  again 
and  I  should  heal  them."  Here  again  that  which  would  lead  to  re- 
pentance and  salvation  was  hid.  Certain  Divine  works  would  have 
saved  Sodom:  dispensational  purposes  concerning  their  kingdom,  if 
plainly  revealed,  would  have  healed  the  ignorance  of  those  who 
resisted  the  evidence  of  the  miracles  and  followed  Sodom  to  destruc- 
tion. And  again,  if  these  rejecters  of  the  gospel  of  the  kingdom  had 
been  confronted  by  the  risen  Messiah,  as  Saul  of  Tarsus  was,  they 
would  have  repented,  and  Israel's  cities  would  have  remained.  We 
have  the  clew  in  these  words,  "born  before  the  time."  Saul  of  Tarsus 
was  wanted  individually  before  the  ordained  time  for  the  salvation 
of  the  whole  nation,  to  perform  a  special  service  for  a  special  body 
before  the  national  service  of  the  nation  Israel  would  be  due  accord- 
ing to  program.  So  "in  the  fulness  of  time,"  at  exactly  the  ordained 
time,  the  Savior  was  born. 

Does  not  this  comprehensive  view  tell  us  that  the  Divine  plan 
is  for  comprehensive  good,  and  that  its  untimely  interruption,  though 
it  might  hasten  the  experience  of  a  local  few,  yet  that  few  must  submit 
to  the  blessed  principle  of  a  unified  creation,  that  no  man  liveth  unto 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  223 

himself  and  no  man  dieth  unto  himself,  but  he  is  bound  in  a  bundle 
of  life,  and  the  ultimate  ordained  good  of  all  and  each  is  not  to  be 
sacrificed  for  a  premature  perfection  of  a  few?  Is  not  this  seen  in 
the  instances  just  referred  to?  And  is  not  every  present  believer 
profiting  by  the  postponement  of  Israel's  sure  mercies?  And  are  we 
to  accept  the  dictum  that  for  the  exceeding  riches  of  grace  which  is 
the  portion  of  the  members  of  the  Heavenly  Body  we  are  to  be 
indebted  to  the  endless  torture  of  all  the  children  of  the  Abrahamic 
Covenant  who  have  been  blinded  to  the  truth  of  Christ  these  nineteen 
centuries?  Shame  on  such  gross  ignorance!  If  the  blood-redemption 
of  Christ  does  not  of  itself  secure  our  blessing,  no  hell-fire  suffering, 
no  matter  how  numerous  the  victims,  can  assure  it.  "And  so  all 
Israel  shall  be  saved."  If  this  refers  exclusively  to  the  remnant  of 
living  Israelites  when  their  Messiah  appears,  then  you  can  forever 
tune  your  harp  to  the  groans  of  those  in  hell  who  are  to  be  sent  there 
for  your  benefit.  Come  now,  Bible  professor,  face  this.  Is  this  fre- 
quent sacrifice  of  a  portion  for  the  good  of  the  whole  to  be  temporary 
or  sempiternal? 

Sodom  was  not  chosen  to  do  the  work  of  Israel.  Israel  was  not 
chosen  to  gather  the  "Body"  for  the  heavenlies.  Each  in  its  own  time 
and  place  will  fulfil  its  ordained  ministry;  the  Body  of  Christ  over 
the  Universe,  the  restored  Nation  of  Israel  over  the  nations,  the  elect 
for  ministry  to  the  non-elect.  The  Kingdom  of  Priests  will  not  be 
ready  to  minister  until  perfected  in  their  Priest-King.  The  Body 
of  Christ  will  not  be  ready  to  minister  until  perfected  in  their  Divine 
Head.  Sodom  was  disciplined  as  Israel  has  been,  though  not  so 
severely;  for  the  passage  referred  to  shows  that  they  were  not  so 
stiff-necked  as  Israel.  The  curtain  must  drop  on  the  scene  of  this 
dispensation  before  it  rises  on  Israel's  tribulation  discipline  and  sub- 
sequent restitution. 

"There  is  no  Scriptural  proof  that  those  dying  in  infancy  are 
saved.  We  hope  they  are  saved  through  the  mercy  of  God,  on  the 
ground  of  the  atonement  of  Christ ;  and  this  inasmuch  as  although  they 
were  born  in  sin,  they  were  not  actual  transgressors  of  God's  law." 
— Gray. 

How  the  black  shadow  of  unbelief  in  Christ  Victorious  in  the 

"reconciliation  of  all  things"  reaches  even  to  the  cradle!     Human 

nature  will  not  admit  the  eternal  torment  of  infants,  but  all  the 

theologians  find  in  the  Bible  is  a  "hope"  that  God  will  show  mercy. 

15 


224  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

They  have  no  confidence  in  these  words  from  the  lips  of  Jesus,  "It 
is  the  will  of  My  Father  who  is  in  Heaven  that  not  one  of  these  little 
ones  should  perish."  (Matt.  i8:  14.)  And  because  the  doctrine  of 
endless  penalty  for  sin  (that  has  been  atoned  for)  must  be  defended, 
this  explicit  statement  is  met  with  a  "hope  so." 

Natural  fire  was  strange  fire.  The  wood  upon  the  altar  was 
kindled  by  Divine  fire  from  Heaven.  Coals  from  this  altar  were 
to  be  used  on  the  censors.  Nadab  and  Abihu  were  promptly  dealt 
with  for  using  profane  fire.     (Lev.  10:  I.) 

Natural  Light. — There  was  no  sunlight  or  moonlight  in  the  holy 
place  of  daily  ministry.  The  seven-branched  lamp  was  to  be  cared 
for  by  the  priests,  who  bring  the  oil  and  trim  the  wicks.  It  was 
to  burn  continually  to  light  the  ministering  priests.  They  were  to 
furnish  the  shew  bread  and  the  incense,  all  according  to  instruction. 
Probably  the  lamp  was  first  lighted  from  the  altar  fire.  In  Eli's  old 
age  the  word  of  Jehovah  "came  seldom"  and  at  the  same  time  "the 
lamp  of  God  was  becoming  dim."  The  Aaronic  priesthood  failed  to 
keep  the  light,  both  material  and  spiritual,  and  it  must  give  place  to 
the  better  Melchisedec  order.     (I  Sam.  3 :  1-9.) 

Natural  glory  was  condemned.  The  glory  of  God  was  the  all- 
sufficient  illumination  of  the  Most  Holy  Place;  as  it  will  also  be  for 
the  holy  city  Jerusalem.     (Rev.  21 :  23.) 

The  Scripture  teaching  of  the  headships  of  Christ  is  rarely  ap- 
pealed to,  but  we  have  it  definitely  stated  in  I  Cor.  11:3;  Eph. 
I  :  9,  10,  22;  Col.  1 :  8;  2:  10-19,  and  in  type  in  Col.  1:15,  "first-born 
of  all  creation;"  vs.  18,  "first-born  from  the  dead;"  Rev.  i :  5,  Israel 
is  my  son,  my  first-born.  Israel  is  not  a  complete  nation  without 
Messiah  their  King.  (Ex.  4:  23,  24.)  So  the  first-born  son  at  the 
passover,  and  the  exchange  of  Levites  for  first-born,  and  especially 
Rom.  5:  12,21,  Adam,  representative  head  of  the  race,  his  headship 
taken  by  the  last  Adam.  All  this  with  "first  fruits"  confirms  the 
importance  of  the  beloved  Son,  "first-born  of  creation,"  the  "Begin- 
ning of  the  Creation  of  God."     (Rev.  3:  14.) 

With  this  in  mind,  read  II  Cor.  5 :  14,  "because  we  thus  judge  that 
One  died  for  all,  therefore  all  died."  When  The  Head  and  repre- 
sentative of  all  creation  died,  then  the  Universe  died  with  Him,  and 
that  was  the  end  of  sin  by  the  complete  exaction  of  the  penalty. 
With  the  resurrection  of  Christ  declaring  righteousness  satisfied  ( Rom. 
4:25),  and  also  manifesting  the  Divine  Sonship    (Rom.  1:4),  we 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  225 

can  see  by  faith  the  Head  of  the  New  Creation.  The  old  has  no 
resurrection,  for  "a  son  of  resurrection  is  a  son  of  God."  (Luke 
20:36.)  Many  beh'evers  confess  a  h'ngering  experience  of  the  old 
Adam.  Will  that  "old  man"  have  a  resurrection  and  will  they  have 
this  dual  nature  in  the  heavenlies?  Some,  like  Dean  Plumptre,  think 
so.  But  no!  The  old  nature  passes  away  with  the  darkness  that  is 
passing  away,  with  death  that  shall  be  no  more,  with  the  earth  and 
the  heaven  that  flee  away  from  the  face  of — ?  (Rev.  20:11.) 
Whose  face?  Is  the  undescribed  One  sitting  on  that  throne  acting 
in  any  limited  capacity?  Is  it  not  rather  the  face  of  Him  who  in  all 
things  has  the  pre-eminence,  whose  name  is  above  every  name,  who 
has  all  power,  whose  nature  is  Love,  who  made  Saul  of  Tarsus  look 
Him  in  the  face,  and  who  now  compels  Cain  to  lift  up  his  head  and 
see  how  woefully  he  misjudged  the  pleading  Jehovah.  Cain  had 
said.  My  punishment  is  greater  than  I  can  bear, — the  first  of  many 
ignorant  and  unbelieving  Cains  and  Sauls  who  are  of  the  Dead  before 
the  Great  White  Throne,  who  will  then  look  into  that  "face"  and 
get  the  great  surprise  of  their  experience.  The  road  to  Damascus 
witnessed  such  a  meeting  of  the  wilful,  ignorant,  unbelieving  Saul, 
and  he  had  an  experience  in  which  he  is  declared  to  be  a  sample  of 
those  "who  should  hereafter"  believe  on  Him  unto  eonian  life.  Being 
in  Timothy,  it  was  life  in  the  last  eon,  not  the  fourth ;  it  would  apply 
to  the  Dead  before  the  Great  White  Throne.  He  that  hath  eyes  to 
see  let  him  not  only  see,  but  consider  it.  At  first  you  may  but  see 
"men  as  trees  walking."  The  Lord  Jesus  will  not  rest  in  any  unfin- 
ished work.  If  this  seems  too  much  to  believe,  you  should  find  a 
Scriptural  basis  for  your  objection.  But  remember  that  all  Scripture 
calls  for  faith.  II  Cor.  5 :  14,  "then  the  all  died."  What,  then,  shall 
we  say  of  death  since  this  wholesale  transaction  ?  First,  it  cannot  be 
an  exaction  of  the  penalty  the  second  time.  Second,  Christ  has 
brought  it  to  nothing,  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light 
through  the  gospel.  (II  Tim.  i :  10.)  His  personal  resurrection 
Life  annuls  death  as  Light  annuls  darkness;  these  vanish,  they  are  no 
more,  for  Life  and  Light  pervade  the  new  creation ;  darkness  and 
death  were  but  negations,  dependent  on  absence  of  the  Life  and 
Light.  And  what  shall  we  say  of  sin  after  the  cross?  It  was  but  an 
incident  of  the  old  creation,  and,  like  the  old  nature  of  a  believer, 
there  is  our  finite  experience  of  it,  but  it  does  not  exist  in  the  sight  of 
God.     Would  a  sinbearer  be  seated  with  the  Father?     Here  faith 


226  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

must  accept  God's  word  that  He  is  not  charging  any  sin  to  any  son 
of  Adam.  He  bids  His  servants  preach  this.  (H  Cor.  5 :  18.)  Faith 
is  challenged  to  accept  it  and  abide  by  it.  Verily  God's  thoughts 
are  not  as  our  thoughts.  Pray  again  "that  He  would  grant  you  ac- 
cording to  the  riches  of  his  glory  that  ye  might  be  strengthened  with 
power  through  His  Spirit  in  the  inward  man." 

Have  you  considered  this  subject  in  all  its  aspects,  and  yet  do  not 
grasp  the  fulness  of  the  work  of  Christ,  and  retain  a  lingering  idea 
that  by  this  Gospel  some  will  be  in  heaven  who  are  not  fit  to  be  there, 
or  if  not  so  outspoken  as  this,  that  imperfection  is  somehow  accepted 
under  the  Headship  of  the  Son  of  God.  Some,  like  Dean  Plumptre, 
think  of  the  good  getting  better,  and  some,  of  the  bad  growing  worse. 
All  such  speculations  are  a  reflection  on  Grace.  It  is  the  workman- 
ship of  Christ.  Under  the  Headship  of  Christ  the  New  Creation 
will  be  perfect  in  every  particular;  otherwise  it  would  not  be  accept- 
able to  the  Holiness  of  God. 

Judas.  This  word  means  praise.  But  in  the  shadow  of  the  cross 
it  comes  to  us  with  the  sinister  significance  of  treachery.  It  contrasts 
sharply  with  the  name  exalted  above  every  other  name  which  stands 
for  loyalty  without  a  flaw.  "He  loved  unto  the  end."  Treachery  is 
a  Satanic  trait.  First,  "The  Devil  having  put  it  into  the  heart  of 
Judas."  Still  he  hesitated;  then  "Satan  entered  into  him"  and  the 
deed  was  done. 

1.  He  was  chosen  of  Jesus  after  a  night  of  prayer.  It  must  be 
perfectly  apparent  to  the  Obedient  one  that  this  was  the  direct  will 
of  God.     Matt.  10:  4;  Mark  3  :  19;  Luke  6:  16. 

2.  He  was  commissioned  with  the  others,  with  power  over  un- 
clean spirits,  to  cast  them  out,  as  well  as  to  cure  every  kind  of  mental 
disease,  and  all  sickness. 

3.  He  made  his  bargain  with  the  chief  priests.  Respectability 
which  bought  the  Savior  would  not  take  back  the  tainted  money,  but 
someone  was  near  who  picked  up  the  thirty  pieces  and  put  them  to 
charitable  uses,  and  the  recording  angel  has  it  in  his  book,  so  they 
say.  Matt.  26:  14-16;  Mark  14:  10,  11 ;  Luke  22:  3-6.  Poor  Char- 
ity! to  be  so  largely  dependent  on  tainted  money. 

4.  Four  Evangelists  record  the  betrayal  in  the  Garden:  Matt. 
26:  48,  49;  Mark  14:42-45;  Luke  22:  47,  48;  John  18:  25. 

5.  At  the  supper.  Jesus  washed  Judas's  feet,  and  declared  that 
one  of  the  Twelve  would  betray  him;  Judas  said  with  the  rest,  "Mas- 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  227 

ter,  is  it  I  ?"  "Who  is  it,  Master  ?"  whispered  John.  "He  is  the  one," 
said  Jesus,  "for  whom  I  shall  dip  this  morsel."  He  handed  it  to 
Judas.     ( Mark  26 :  25  ;  John  1 3 :  26-30. ) 

6.  Satan  entered  into  him.  "Jesus  therefore  said  unto  him. 
What  thou  doest  do  quickly."  Judas  carried  the  bag.  He  was 
possessed  by  a  cunning,  avaricious  nature  from  the  beginning.  (Luke 
22:3;  John  13:2;  John  6:  70,  71.) 

7.  His  blind  criticism  of  Mary  of  Bethany.  He  saw  not  what 
Jesus  did  in  that  anointing  (John  12:  48)  ;  he  was  too  gross. 

8.  The  prophecy,  Ps.  69:23-30:  "Blot  them  from  the  Book  of 
the  Lives;  let  them  not  be  inscribed  with  the  Good." 

9.  His  suicide.     (Acts  1:18.) 

10.  His  own  place,  or  his  "proper  position,"  as  Fenton  ren- 
ders it. 

11.  "Good  for  Him,  if  that  man  had  not  been  born.  (Matt. 
26:  24.)     Grammatically,  "Him"  refers  to  the  "Son  of  Man." 

12.  The  attitude  of  Jesus  at  the  crisis,  "Friend."  The  same 
yesterday,  and  for  the  eons. 

All  this  detail  arrests  the  attention ;  it  is  surely  written  for  our 
admonition.    What  are  the  lessons  to  be  learned? 

1.  Sacred  office  does  not  sanctify  the  office-holder  nor  save  him, 
else  Satan  would  not  have  fallen,  nor  have  dragged  down  so  many 
officers  with  him.  Plumptre  says,  "The  fall  of  Judas  showed  that 
election  did  not  insure  the  certainty  of  salvation."  Which  remark 
shows  that  "holy  orders"  do  not  give  a  man  spiritual  perception. 
(John  6:  70;  Matt.  19:  2-8.) 

2.  The  commission  of  the  Twelve  in  Matt.  10  was  to  a  large 
field,  and  as  a  sample  of  accomplishment  their  mission  tour  was  suc- 
cessful, and  they  had  a  glorious  time  doing  it  and  a  voluble  time  re- 
porting it;  but  the  field  is  not  appreciably  altered  to  this  day.  The 
Millennial  teaching  will  see  a  completed  harvest. 

3.  The  actual  betrayer  is  a  dirty  tool,  and  hypocritical  respecta- 
bility is  maintained  by  using  a  long  handle.  The  Lord  accosted  the 
tool  as  "Friend,"  but  he  designated  the  bribers  as  hypocrites,  serpents, 
spawn  of  vipers.  There  are  modern  religious  magnates  who  spurn 
with  pious  horror  the  idea  that  there  are  Divine  resources  in  Grace 
which  shall  yet  reconcile  the  betrayer  and  the  Betrayed;  and  as  to 
Satan,  the  prime  minister  of  evil?  They  can  but  be  silently  amazed 
at  the  audacity  of  the  idea  that  the  Savior  cares  for  his  reconciliation. 


228  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

4.  Human  Nature  has  its  limitations.  For  a  man,  as  God  made 
him,  to  commit  a  Satanic  act,  he  must  be  stimulated  by  Satan.  It  is 
also  true  that  for  a  man  to  live  godly,  he  must  be  moved  by  a  Divine 
spirit. 

5.  Judas  had  a  plausible  exterior,  but  in  the  inner  man  he  was 
possessed  by  avarice,  blunted  perception,  moral  degeneracy;  he  was 
to  have  the  subtle  enemy  of  Christ  put  into  his  heart  to  betray,  having 
no  doubt  made  the  worse  to  appear  the  better,  as  with  our  mother  Eve. 
He  had  no  part  of  his  nature  in  tune  to  respond  to  the  meaning  of 
Jesus  when  he  washed  the  feet  of  him  that  was  swift  to  shed  blood, 
or  to  the  offering  of  the  sop ;  or  to  that  of  the  anointing  at  Bethany  ; 
or  of  that  unchangeable  attitude  of  Jesus  who  called  him  "Friend," 
or  of  the  repulsiveness  of  the  treacherous  kiss.  To-day,  "Have  you 
any  room  for  Jesus?"  Or  is  every  part  of  your  being  possessed  to  his 
exclusion  ? 

6.  Demon  possession  is  a  prevailing  present  fact  of  evil  omen. 
It  was  not  said  of  Judas  that  he  had  a  demon,  but  that  he  was  a  devil. 
(DiaboluSj  adversary.) 

7.  The  certainty  of  treachery  must  not  cause  us  to  withhold  all 
that  love  would  prompt  us  to  do. 

8.  Judas  had  read  the  sixty-ninth  Psalm,  a  prophecy  which  was 
indeed  as  a  light  in  a  dark  place,  but  he  heeded  it  not.  These  are  days 
when  many  bibles  are  read,  and  when  there  is  much  talk  about  the 
Bible,  and  many  have  read  the  passage  of  God's  word  which  condemns 
them  with  all  the  blindness  of  a  Judas.  It  is  the  obedience  of  a  living 
faith  that  the  Truth  demands. 

9.  Suicide!  What  a  desperate  act!  What  a  confession  of 
faithlessness!  What  a  sorry  resort  in  the  day  of  trouble!  And 
more;  but  also  what  ignorance  of  the  nature  and  purposes  of  God. 

10.  His  own  proper  place.  Everything,  animate  and  inanimate, 
in  God's  creation  has  that,  and  the  God  of  order  will  in  the  Headship 
of  Christ  accomplish  the  perfect  order  of  the  New  Creation.  Mean- 
time, out  of  place,  unsettled,  uncertain,  lacking  wisdom,  ask  of  God. 
He  will  see  you  safe  through  all  your  perplexities,  giving  peace  in  the 
midst  of  turmoil. 

11.  Matt.  26 :  24,  The  difficulty  imputed  to  this  verse  is  removed 
at  once  by  a  translation  pronounced  by  competent  Greek  scholars  to 
be  correct — concerning  the  two,  "The  Son  of  Man"  and  "that  man." 
It  simply  says  of  the  Son  of  Man,  "Well  would  it  have  been  for 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  229 

Him  if  that  man  had  never  been  born"  to  betray  him.  Well  would 
it  have  been  with  Jesus  if  the  Cross  itself  had  not  been  necessary.  But 
for  the  dogmatic  objections  of  systematic  theology,  this  would  be  the 
accepted  rendering.  Further,  "kalon  (good)  is  untranslatable;  and 
how  mild  the  expression  compared  with  what  might  have  been  ex- 
pected from  the  ordinary  viewpoint."  "Can  we  accept,  unreservedly, 
regardless  of  all  context,  that  God  created  a  soul,  loved  and  redeemed 
him,  called  him  'Friend,'  chose  him  for  the  office  of  traitor,  and 
that  it  were  good  that  he  had  not  been  born,  because  endless  hell  is 
his  foreordained  destiny?  How  much  explaining  is  necessary  even  to 
imagine  this."  It  might  have  been  good  for  that  man's  conscience, 
feelings,  reputation,  etc.,  but  reverse  the  saying.  "It  was  an  evil  for 
that  man  that  he  was  born."  And  we  then  have  the  one  problem  of 
any  or  all  evil;  if  it  is  temporary,  it  is  to  accomplish  a  purpose;  if 
endless,  then  insoluble.  "I  kill  and  I  make  alive"  is  good  ultimately. 
So  Job  cursed  the  day  on  which  he  was  born.  Many  men  are  born 
to  evil.  Some  in  high  places  like  Judas,  and  some  in  low  places  like 
the  crucified  malefactor,  evil  for  them  temporarily,  but  not  finally, 
and  all  raised  up  "for  that  very  purpose"  of  God.  If  any  creature 
has  a  future  place,  it  must  be  in  that  new  creation  of  which  Christ 
is  Head. 

12.  We  are  taught  to  abhor  treachery,  but  in  blessed  contrast 
we  see  the  divine  loyalty  of  Jesus.  "Having  loved  His  own,  He 
loved  them  to  the  end."  Can  we  enter  into  full  fellowship  with  the 
spirit  shown  in  that  word  "Friend"  as  Jesus  thus  accosted  Judas  in 
the  garden?  In  the  case  of  David  it  was,  as  he  called  him,  "mine 
own  familiar  friend."  Ahithophel  was  caught  in  the  blaze  of  oppor- 
tunity that  satisfied  revenge.  He,  too,  saw  no  avenue  more  inviting 
than  suicide.  The  value  of  friendly  relations  with  all  men  is  enforced 
by  these  instances  of  treachery.  Civilization  depends  on  trustworthi- 
ness. In  barbarism  and  its  false  religion,  where  no  dependence  is 
to  be  placed  on  friends,  the  results  are  catalogued  in  Rom.  i :  28 — 
"treacherous"  comes  between  "senseless"  and  "unnatural."  Apart 
from  Christ,  Natural  Religion  is  "down  grade."  Will  Jesus  ever 
cease  to  be  the  "friend"  of  Judas?  Is  He  not  the  same  yesterday, 
to-day  and  for  the  eons?  It  is  the  old  Adamic  nature,  satanized,  that 
is  the  Judas.  He  need  not  commit  suicide.  When  Christ  died,  he 
died;  thus  faith  disposes  of  him.    Trust  him  not. 


230 


CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 


Ps.  69:  23-25,  This  is  applied  to  Judas  in  Acts  i :  19,  20,  but  it 
is  also  applied  to  Israel,  Rom.  11:  10.  If  the  fall  of  Israel  was  the 
riches  of  the  world,  so  was  the  fall  of  Judas.  The  individual  was  a 
type  of  the  nation,  and  that  generation  was  filled  with  a  fanatical 
zeal  for  religious  and  political  patriotism.  There  is  the  wider  appli- 
cation, The  old  Adam;  the  race  itself  was  poisoned  by  the  injection 
of  Satanic,  malevolent  treachery,  and  this  is  called  "the  flesh,"  which 
is  contrary  to  the  spirit. 

The  following  is  submitted  as  a  possible  help  to  some  who  are  not 
familiar  with  the  eons  and  dispensations  revealed  in  Scripture,  in 
accord  with  which  this  book  is  written. 

DIAGRAM  IV. 


01  A.  IV. 

II 

V 

/4 

/ 

Z 

\3 

A 

/z 

/3 

6 

IllJilllllililillllll 
7 

g 


1.  First  Creation  in  its  First-born  representative.  This  dies  at 
the  cross.  This  is  its  end  in  the  sight  of  God.  But  even  as  the  be- 
liever, to  whom  all  things  are  new,  has  for  his  instruction  an  experi- 
ence through  his  body,  so  all  the  old  Cosmos  has  a  lingering  existence 
in  accommodation  to  the  slowness  of  finite  intelligence. 

2.  The  human  race  in  Adam  to  the  Cross,  the  completion  of  the 
Old  Creation. 

3.  From  Abraham  to  the  Cross,  with  the  Kingdom  of  Israel 
ordained  at  Sinai  as  the  agent  of  Theocratic  government. 

4.  The  Pentecostal  generation  of  Israel,  say  A.  D.  30  to  70. 

5.  The  pre-millennial  generation  of  Jacob,  40  or  70  years. 

6.  Death  and  Hades,  personified  in  the  Apocalypse,  with  bodies, 
souls  and  spirits  of  the  dead. 

7.  The  Lake  of  Fire  for  1,000  years.  II  Thess.  2 : 8 ;  Rev. 
14:9-11;  23:  10. 

8.  The  Lake  of  Fire,  post-millennial.  The  unveiled  glory  of 
the  Son  of  God  in  this  eon,  like  the  lesser  glory  of  the  Son  of  Man  in 
II  Thess.  2:8,  is  tormenting  fire  to  all  unbelievers.    Torment  ceases 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  23  I 

on  belief;  belief  comes  upon  a  sight  of  "the  face"  of  Him  that  sitteth 
on  the  Throne;  Resurrection  comes  with  belief:  and  the  old  Creation 
is  gone.     Rev.  20 :  1 1  to  2 1 :  5  ;  I  Tim.  i :  15-17. 

9.  The  New  Creation  begins  with  Christ,  risen,  ascended,  om- 
nipotent, and  as  First-born  taking  his  place  as  the  Head. 

10.  The  Old  Testament  Saints  were  raised,  and  followed  Christ 
in  the  train  of  His  resurrection  Triumph.  These  are  The  New 
Jerusalem  above,  the  bride  of  the  Lamb,  becoming  in  the  last  eon 
the  Holy  City,  the  tabernacle  of  God  on  earth.  Matt.  27:  52,  53 ; 
Eph.  4:8;  Rev.  21:9,  10. 

11.  Believers  of  this  dispensation  take  their  place  in  the  New 
Creation  as  the  body  of  the  Christ,  Christ  being  "Head  over  the  uni- 
verse, to  the  Ecclesia  which  is  His  Body,  the  complement  which  is 
culminating  the  universe,  in  all  its  parts." 

12.  The  Kingdom  of  Heaven  for  1,000  years,  under  the  Son  of 
Man,  Messiah;  "the  Kingdom  of  priests"  at  last  installed  in  office. 
Ex.  19:  6. 

13.  Gentile  nations  ruled  over  by  Israel. 

14.  The  eon  of  the  eons,  the  last.  The  Son  of  God  unveils  his 
glory  and  brings  the  original  revealed  purpose  of  God  to  an  end.  The 
Creative  Word,  sent  forth,  returns,  and  His  Godhood  is  manifested 
to  the  New  Creation. 


Having  received  pamphlets,  professing  the  truth  of  universal  recon- 
ciliation, and  of  the  definite  purpose  of  God  to  be  accomplished  within 
limited  eons,  which  at  the  same  time  deny  the  virgin  birth  and  the 
Deity  of  Jesus  Christ  our  Lord,  I  could  wish  that  the  first  chapter  of 
this  book  were  more  worthy  of  the  truth  there  indicated.  However, 
the  following  Scriptures  encourage  us  to  stand  fast  whereto  we  have 
already  attained,  in  spite  of  all  attempts  to  add  man's  wisdom  to  God's. 

I.  Heb.  6 :  4-6.  Some  of  the  covenant  people,  who  had  even  been 
partakers  of  pentecostal  gifts,  found  it  easy  to  yield  to  the  influence 
of  the  many  who  were  zealous  for  the  old  covenant.  They  were  in 
danger  of  falling  away  from  their  faith  in  the  new  and  better  covenant 
in  the  blood  of  their  Messiah.  Paul,  however,  is  persuaded  better  of 
them,  even  things  that  accompany  salvation. 

Was  it  rash  and  dangerous  to  go  contrary  to  the  prevailing  spirit 
of  the  nation  ?  to  turn  from  that  which  was  "done  away"  at  the  cross, 


232  CHRIST   VICTORIOUS   OVER   ALL 

and  put  their  faith  in  that  better  covenant  with  their  risen  Messiah? 
The  mass  of  the  nation  always  did  resist  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the  pro- 
phetic messages.  Now  carnal  Christendom  has  repeated  the  apostasy 
of  Judaism.  Is  the  believer  therefore  to  lose  confidence  in  Christ  and 
follow  Demas,  loving  the  spirit  of  this  Babylonian  eon? 

2.  Rom.  3  :  20-26;  5  :  i-ii,  21 ;  6:  i.  In  this  epistle  to  the  saints 
in  Rome,  Paul  proclaims  his  Gospel.  "Justified  freely  by  His  grace," 
— "access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand," — "Christ  died 
for  the  ungodly,  for  sinners, — while  we  were  enemies, — reconciled, — 
Grace  reigns."  Paul  was  hounded  by  fanatical  legalists  charging 
"Antinomian!" — "Shall  we  continue  in  sin  that  grace  may  abound?" 
Every  preacher  of  grace  has  stirred  up  the  same  enmity.  The 
Galatians,  having  begun  in  grace,  fell  from  it.  Have  you?  Because 
grace  is  abused,  as  all  God's  gifts  have  been,  shall  we  cease,  by  faith, 
to  embrace  it,  and  proclaim  it  ?  even  though  we  have  to  fight  the  good 
fight  of  faith  against  legalism? 

3.  Again,  read  I  Cor.  1:9:  "God  is  faithful,  by  Whom  ye  were 
called  into  the  fellowship  [partnership]  of  His  Son  Jesus  Christ 
our  Lord."  Have  you  entered  into  the  blessedness  of  this,  and  would 
you  guard  it  as  a  precious  thing?  Would  you  jealously  maintain  it 
though  it  is  almost  universally  profaned  ?  And  though  you  experience 
the  enmity  of  organized  christi-anityJ  Paul  condemned  the  Corin- 
thian carnal  sects.  Will  he  condone  those  of  to-day? — Is  spiritual 
fellowship  something  that  we  should  cease  to  promote,  lest  we  be  ex- 
communicated ?  Paul  wrote  two  epistles  to  these  Corinthians,  ending 
the  second  with  this  prayer,  "The  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be 
with  you  all."  Can  you  honestly  and  consistently  say  "Amen"  to  this 
as  the  member  of  a  sect? 

4.  Phil.  3 :  18.  Even  some  members  of  the  Heavenly  Body  are 
here  said  to  be  "enemies  of  the  cross  of  Christ." — Shall  we  therefore 
be  shamed  out  of  our  advocacy  of  that  Blessed  Secret  which  is  the 
manifestation  of  "the — exceeding — riches — of — His — grace?"  Shall 
we  continue  to  imitate  Paul  as  he  followed  Christ?  Shall  we  be  "not 
ashamed"  as  he  was  not  who  initiated  us  into  the  Mystery?  or  shall 
we  forsake  Paul  as  Demas  did,  having  loved  this  present  eon? 

5.  This  book,  "Christ  Victorious  Over  All,"  is  an  attempt  to 
take  by  faith  the  high  place  of  "Colossian"  Truth.  Paul  in  this  epistle 
makes  much  of  the  Headships  of  Christ.     "Not  holding  The  Head," 


SCRIPTURE    PASSAGES  233 

the  Divine  Head,  they  went  to  their  own  heads  for  wisdom.  This 
gave  their  adversary  an  opening ;  the  shield  of  faith  was  down.  There 
had  been  a  betrayer,  one  of  the  Twelve.  Look  at  the  names  in  Colos- 
sians:  Paul,  Tychicus,  Onesimus,  Aristarchus,  Mark,  Epaphras,  Luke 
— and  DEMAS.  What  a  fellowship  in  the  truth  of  universal  recon- 
ciliation, which  is  brought  to  a  climax  in  this  letter!  Now!  is  that 
truth  to  be  discounted  because  Science  and  Philosophy  trick  some  into 
most  pitiful  error?  Is  a  denial  of  the  virgin  birth  and  Deity  of  Christ 
to  be  charged  to  this  Colossian  truth,  or  to  modern  Science  and 
Philosophy,  which  bears  the  same  fruit  now  that  the  wisdom  of  men 
did  in  Colosse? 

This  error  is  the  attempt  to  increase  the  sum  of  wisdom  by  adding 
that  of  man  to  the  wisdom  of  God,  or,  in  modern  phrase,  to  reconcile 
Scripture  and  Speculation,  otherwise  christened  Science. 

It  is  the  Word  of  God  only  that  can  make  us  wise  unto  salvation. 
But  why  add  words?  Lord  Jesus,  come!  and  end  this  weary  night! 
Now  brethren!  Paul  could  not  excommunicate  any  member  of 
that  body  chosen  in  Christ  before  the  wreck  of  the  first  Cosmos,  and 
by  that  same  token  he  could  not  alienate  his  "love  in  the  Spirit"  from 
any  Demas,  nor  even  from  those  enemies  of  the  cross  that  he  could 
not  mention  without  weeping.  When  others  point  the  finger  of  scorn, 
and  say,  "I  told  you  so,"  stand  fast  on  Colossian  grace  and  say  in 
Christ,  "The  fellowship  of  the  Holy  Spirit  be  with  you  all.  Amen." 
For  you  are  called  to  a  universal  ministry.  Our  beloved  brother  and 
fellow-member  of  the  Heavenly  Body  charges  us,  "first  of  all,  to  offer 
supplications,  prayers,  intercessions,  thanksgivings!  for  all  men." 
O,  Paul!  will  we  ever  catch  up  to  you?  Wait  until  we  have  said 
"Amen"  to  the  Divinely  prompted  prayer  of  Eph.  3:  14-20,  and  have 
a  supply  of  Divinely  given  faith.  But  why  this  thanksgiving  of 
I  Tim.  2:1  for  all  men  if  God  our  Savior,  who  would  have  all  men 
to  be  saved,  cannot  save  them?  Paul  is  not  writing  to  babes  when  he 
writes  to  Timothy.    This  is  an  advanced  lesson  in  the  school  of  God. 


-       CONTENTS 

CHAPTER  PAGE 

I.     HE  HUMBLED  HIMSELF 7 

His  whole  course,  from  Alpha  to  Omega,  was  one  in 
which  His  Divine  glory  was  veiled.    The  Arian  error. 

n.    THE  PERSONAL  EQUATION 19 

Bias  is  seen  in  many  particulars. 

III.  THINGS  THAT  DIFFER 34 

Eons,  dispensations,  times,  places,  people. 

IV.  FIVE  EONS  OF  PROGRESSIVE  REVELATION    45 

In  which  the  purposes  of  God  are  revealed  and  accom- 
plished. 

V.     NATURAL  RELIGION 66 

Humanity  apart  from  Revelation  groping  in  the  lim- 
ited and  temporary  Sphere  of  Law. 

VI.     SIN'S  PENALTY  PAID  ONCE  FOR  ALL 76 

The  reign  of  Sin  superseded  by  the  reign  of  Grace. 

VII.     PUNISHMENT  OR  DISCIPLINE? 98 

The  place  of  each  according  to  Scripture. 

VIII.     HEAVEN,  HADES,  GEHENNA,  ETC 122 

Various  persons  and  various  places. 

IX.     FREE-WILL,  OR  SELF-DETERMINATION 148 

The  limits  of  self-determination. 

X.     MISCELLANEOUS  QUOTATIONS 160 

Of  application  to  the  subject,  more  or  less. 

XL     SCRIPTURE  PASSAGES 194 

That  are  often  referred  to  as  bearing  on  the  general 
subject. 


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